


The Good Side Of You | Monty and Winston

by foreverwonty



Category: 13 Reasons Why (TV)
Genre: Angst, Coming Out, Gay, Happy Ending, LGBT, M/M, Multi, fixit
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-25
Updated: 2020-09-29
Packaged: 2021-03-04 01:42:19
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 16
Words: 55,983
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24905530
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/foreverwonty/pseuds/foreverwonty
Summary: COMPLETED: How different life would have been for Monty if he had met Winston earlier? This story gives a happy ending to a troubled kid who knew nothing but abuse all his life, and the only one that could see the good side of him arrived too late.Warning: Some chapters contain graphic sexual content and violence.Follow me on Instagram & Wattpad @foreverwonty
Relationships: Charlie St. George/Luke Holliday, Diego Torres/Estela de la Cruz, Montgomery de la Cruz/Winston Williams
Comments: 185
Kudos: 465





	1. Loneliness

"You wave that thing around like I give a shit." 

The gun was pointing right at his throat. One small movement of Alex's finger and he would be dead. And who would care? 

"Where are the polaroids?" Alex asked again, as if he couldn't believe Monty when he answered the first time.

"I told you I don't have them."

"Why would you do this, Monty? Why would you protect a rapist who would sell you out in a heartbeat to protect himself? Why would you do all those horrible things just to try to save his ass? Hannah is dead because of him!" The hand that was holding the gun shook as Alex said the last sentence, and Monty thought how easily Alex could pull that trigger, even accidentally. 

"Bryce, the team, they are everything to me, Alex. I can't run home, the team's my home. I have no one else on my side. Being an athlete, going to playoffs, winning state, that's not about fun for me. It's about survival. It's everything. So if you're going to shoot me, shoot me." 

Montgomery looked into Alex's eyes, and Alex saw in them the fearlessness of someone who had nothing left to lose. Someone who's father had just tried to beat him with a hammer. Someone who had nowhere to sleep tonight, or the night after. "So, are you gonna shoot me, Alex? You couldn't even shoot yourself."

"Fuck you!" But Alex lowered the gun, and Monty took it from him.

"By the time you get anywhere, I'll be long gone."

As Monty got in his car, Alex yelled, "Is he worth it, Monty?"

"You're the one with the hole in your head. You tell me."

And with that Monty drove away, leaving Alex stranded in the middle of nowhere.

Monty had no idea where he was driving to. He had only a few dollars on him. He thought it would probably be smart to buy some food with it, but he bought some beer instead. The guy behind the counter sold it to him, no questions asked. He was used to Monty buying beer for his father all the time. He didn't even notice his dad was not in the car. All the better for Monty. He didn't want to think, or feel. He just wanted to be numb. And he knew the beer would help with that.

The sun was beginning to set, and he found a secluded spot near the beach that he thought would be safe enough to spend the night. It was beautiful, you could see the sun setting down towards the waves, and the salty air felt good against his bruised skin.

He was on his fourth beer when he heard some kind of clicking noise. Monty looked in the direction of the noise and saw a curly-haired boy taking pictures of the sunset with what looked like an expensive camera. He hadn't even noticed Monty, so absorbed as he was in what he was doing. Monty thought it was probably because he had only a few minutes to get the perfect shot before the sun completely disappeared. He looked like he was a rich kid. Monty could see a blue Audi R8 parked not far away. Hot anger bubbled up suddenly inside of him, like it so often did. He wanted to be alone. He got out of his car to yell at him. 

"Hey! Get out of here!"

The boy jumped, startled, and would have dropped his camera if the strap hadn't been around his neck. But when he looked at Monty with his wide hazel eyes, when he noticed the bruises on his face and the way he was carrying himself, like he was tired of having to be tough all the time, he saw a kid who was suffering. He wasn't afraid.

"What happened to your face?" 

"Why do you care?"

The boy ignored that and took a step closer to him. "I'm Winston." 

Monty looked at him. Those hazel eyes were still looking at him strangely. No one looked at him like that, like they were really seeing him.

The gun was still visible inside Monty's car, but Winston hadn't seen it. Monty slid it under the driver's seat to hide it. "Montgomery," he said, and Winston nodded.

Instead of going away, Winston was walking towards him. Monty wondered why he was still looking at him so intently, and he took an unconscious step back. But Winston noticed how often Monty's eyes rested on his lips, and that encouraged him to get closer.

"You should really take care of that," Winston said, and he tentatively raised his hand before very softly running a finger down the bruised side of Monty's face. The touch made Monty shiver slightly, and his eyes darted to Winston's lips again. A part of Monty was screaming that this wasn't right, but another part of him wanted to close the distance between them. He swallowed, and the choice was made for him when Winston pressed his lips against his own. 

Winston's first thought was how cold Monty's lips were, and how they tasted of beer, when Monty suddenly grabbed his shirt and pushed him away. Monty was breathing hard, and his right hand was clenched in a fist, as if he was thinking about punching him.

"Easy," said Winston.

Breathing hard still, Monty looked from Winston's eyes to his lips, again and again, and Winston could see in his eyes the internal battle he was fighting. With what sounded almost like a whimper, Monty finally gave in and locked their lips together again, this time losing himself fully in the kiss. His hands buried themselves in Winston's hair, and he felt himself growing hard quickly. Winston felt it as well, and he grabbed Monty by the waist to press their bodies even closer together. Monty moaned in Winston's mouth and Winston broke the kiss with a smile.

"Wanna get out of here?"

Earlier, Monty had said to himself how he didn't want to think, and he certainly wasn't thinking when he followed Winston to his house, or when he followed Winston to his room, or when they started making out again, before taking off their clothes. He wasn't thinking about anything except about how hard he was and how good it felt what they were doing. 

Winston noticed how dominant Monty was, so he adopted a more submissive attitude, letting Monty do whatever he wanted. But when Winston got the lube out of a drawer from his nightstand, laid on his back and spread his legs for Monty to enter him, Monty hesitated. Winston thought this was probably his first time with a guy, or his first time ever, period. He lubricated both Monty and himself before he wrapped his legs around Monty's waist and kissed him softly on the lips. Winston guided him, enjoying Monty's gasp as he pressed himself inside of Winston. Once Monty was fully inside he took control of the situation again, grabbing Winston's shoulders and moving in and out. Winston was groaning with every thrust and it was driving Monty crazy. He whispered in Winston's ear that he was going to come soon, before burying himself deeply inside of him with a moan of absolute ecstasy. 

"Holy shit," Monty breathed out.

He laid there on top of Winston for a few seconds, still throbbing down there from his orgasm, before he noticed how sticky Winston's belly was—he had come too. Monty smiled and kissed Winston's lips one more time before pulling himself out of him and lying next to him on the bed.

Winston raised himself and leaned on his elbow to look at Monty's face. "I can give you a ride somewhere, if you don't want an Uber."

This surprised Monty, who was still in that post-sex afterglow. He didn't want to go.

"Are you trying to kick me out?" Monty asked, and Winston's heart melted.

"No, I just figured you would want to go." No one had ever wanted to stay before.

Monty turned his whole body towards Winston so that he was lying on his side before grinning and saying, "Well, maybe I wanna stay and do that again."

Winston's smile at that took Monty's breath away. "Yeah? Okay."

The fact that Monty found Winston so beautiful disturbed him, and he felt compelled to say "I'm not... fucking gay."

Winston looked at Monty's eyes and said without judgement, "Okay. Cool. You can be whatever you want to be."

It was the kindest thing anyone had ever said to him, but Monty knew it wasn't true.

"No... I can't."

Monty's eyes shined with unshed tears. Winston put an arm around him and rested his head on Monty's chest. He wasn't ready to come out, and Winston understood that. He could tell Monty's life wasn't easy somehow, and the rush of affection he was feeling for Monty kind of scared him. He had just met him. He showered Monty's face with kisses until Monty smiled and reversed their positions, so that Winston was lying on his back and Monty was on top again. They had sex two more times that night before they fell asleep in each others arms.


	2. A Promise

Monty wasn't at his house the first time the police came looking for him. He got a call from his father telling him to get his ass home. He made the mistake of doing so, and that got him a broken arm.

The police had returned eventually, but the Walkers' lawyer had got him out of trouble. He had walked away scot-free. They couldn't prove he had tried to kill Clay Jensen, or that he wrecked Tony Padilla's car, or that he sent a gun to Alex Standall. Bryce always had his back, that's why Monty always had his. He would do anything for his brother. 

"I hear fucking Tyler Down is back," he said, anger once again rising to the surface.

"Yeah, so?"

"So, I wanna break his head open."

"That's a great idea at this particular time," said Bryce, his voice dripping with sarcasm. 

"He costs us our season, we need to do something."

Bryce looked at Monty's left arm, wrapped in a blue cast. "Was that your dad? Clearly he didn't beat you hard enough because you're still a fucking idiot."

Monty instinctively tried to hide his cast from Bryce's eyes. 

"The last time you tried to help you almost fucked up my plea deal."

"None of it came back to you."

"Monty, no one's gonna believe that I didn't know about all the shit that you did. I had to give you my goddamn lawyer."

"I would have taken the fall if I had to. I kept you clean." Fear was making Monty raise his voice, even though he was trying not to yell. He wanted to shake Bryce until he realized that everything he had done, he had done for him. For the team. For their family. "I knew those kids could fuck everything up for us and they did!"

"Yeah, well, you helped."

Monty was at a loss for words. He just wanted to fix this. Whatever it took. "I... Tell me what you want me to do, okay? I'll make it right."

"I want you to leave it alone, and leave me alone. We're done."

Bryce stood up and left Monty alone in the classroom. Monty tried to clench both of his fists, something he often did when he was angry or hurt or both, but he couldn't do it with his left hand because of the cast. That simple thing almost made him weep out of misery right there in the middle of the classroom. He had never felt so alone. He tried to feel angry again, because rage felt better than sadness. He thought of Tyler, coming back like nothing had happened. Like he hadn't made Monty lose everything he cared about. Like he hadn't ruined Monty's life. He stood up with half a mind to get Kenneth and Taylor and go teach a lesson to that creep, when he felt his phone vibrate in his back pocket.

It was a text from Winston: "Hey, you wanna hang out later?"

Monty sat back down and after a few seconds he typed: "Sure." He hesitated for a moment before he tapped Send. 

Winston: "🙂 How's your day going?"

Monty scoffed: "Not great."

Winston: "🙁"

Monty thought Winston's emojis were so damn annoying, but half of his lunch hour passed without him realizing it as he sat there texting Winston. He didn't even notice his anger evaporating into thin air the more he talked to him. 

Winston: "Can't wait to see you, I'll try to make your day better"

Monty smiled in spite of himself. Out of paranoia, he looked around to make sure there was no one there that could be looking at his phone screen, but he was alone in that classroom.

Monty: "Okay, see you after school."

Winston: "❤️"

That heart emoji made Monty immediately lock his screen, blushing slightly. He hid his face behind his hands for a few seconds before unlocking his phone again.

They had texted back and forth ever since they hooked up, but they hadn't seen each other again. And with everything that had happened with the police and the beating his father gave him, Monty had been a bit distant. But Winston just continued reaching out to Monty, and Monty's temper always calmed down after talking to Winston. Today he told Monty that his parents were away from home again, and after school Monty made his way over to that big house for the second time. 

Winston's house was even bigger than Chatham House, Bryce's home. It looked much more imposing, a grand mansion with multiple balconies. Monty didn't even want to imagine how much money Winston's family had, and he had spent enough time around Bryce to know the power that came with having that kind of money. After all, it was thanks to that power that he was parked in front of Winston's house right now instead of being in prison.

Winston's room was located on the east side of the house. It had a small balcony and double glass doors that were covered by dark blue curtains the last time Monty was there. The thick branches of a tall tree reached up to Winston's balcony, and Monty imagined how easy it would be for someone like him to climb it and get into Winston's room without even bothering to go through the front door of the house.

But Monty did walk to the front door, and was greeted by a bright toothy smile that faltered when Winston saw his arm cast.

"You seem to have a new injury every time I see you." Winston tried to say that casually, as if he were talking about the normal bumps and bruises a high school football player gets on the field, but something in his voice betrayed a rising worry that that was not the case, that these injuries were anything but normal. 

Monty shrugged and Winston let him in. The place smelled strongly of popcorn. 

"I thought we could watch a movie," said Winston hesitantly, but it sounded good to Monty, who almost never had a moment to just relax. 

"Okay, sure."

Winston poured two glasses of Coke that Monty took up to his room while Winston carried the popcorn. 

It seemed like the most natural thing in the world, getting in bed with Winston, a glass of Coke on each nightstand and a bowl of popcorn between them. But some part of Monty knew it wasn't natural at all. He knew that what they had done last time wasn't natural either, it wasn't right. The fact that he felt so comfortable around Winston, that he liked looking at his face and kept thinking about burying his right hand inside his black curls and bringing him closer to him—all of that confused him.

Normally, when something confused him he got angry. He guessed people would say he had a nasty temper. But today, after what had happened with Bryce, after losing his brother, the last thing he wanted to do was start another fight, and much less with Winston. He pushed the confusing feelings away and tried to control himself.

Winston had wanted to watch John Wick: Chapter 2, but Monty hadn't seen the first one, and Winston said he didn't mind watching it again with him. 

Fifteen minutes into the movie, Winston couldn't hold his question in any longer.

"So, what happened to your arm?"

Monty, who was feeling relaxed for the first time since he last saw Winston, visibly tensed at the question, and unconsciously put his injured arm under the covers. 

"You don't have to answer if you don't want to," said Winston, closely watching his reaction, "but just know that you can tell me anything."

Monty didn't speak for a while, and when Winston thought he wasn't going to answer, Monty said, "I got into a fight with my dad."

"You mean your dad... did that to you?"

Monty was silent.

"Why?" Winston tried not to sound angry or push Monty for answers but it was difficult.

"I got into some trouble recently. Trouble with the police. My dad was furious. He just went crazy, he does that sometimes. He's always saying I'm a criminal and a good-for-nothing." Monty couldn't believe he was being so open about this with Winston. But then again, the fact that his father beat him wasn't exactly a secret. Some of his friends knew about it. Bryce knew about it. But no one had ever asked him about it. Everyone brushed it off like it was nothing. So Monty had had to learn to live with it.

"That's..." Winston shook his head. What could anyone say to that? "I'm so sorry, Monty." Winston remembered the state of Monty's face the day he had met him. "Was he also the one responsible for the bruises you had on your face last time?"

Monty nodded. "He came at me with a hammer that day. I had to run away."

"Where were you planning to run away to?"

Monty shrugged. He didn't want to say he had planned to sleep under a bridge. But the way Winston's eyes filled with tears let him know he understood that Monty had had no place to go.

"I guess it's lucky I met you when I did, I scored a free room for the night," Monty joked, he didn't want Winston to start crying. No one had ever cared this much where he slept.

"You will always be welcome here. I don't even care if my parents are here or not. Just say the word and you'll have a place to stay."

Monty raised an eyebrow. "And your parents won't care if I just show up here?"

"I don't think they will. They don't care about a lot of stuff."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, other than to make sure that I'm making the grades to get into Princeton, they don't really talk to me that much. And I got that covered, I paid someone to take the SAT for me," Winston grinned. "What they don't know won't hurt them, and if it keeps them happy and away from me," Winston shrugged adorably.

Monty laid on his side, turning his body to Winston. They looked into each other's eyes for a second before Monty said, "Thank you."

Winston just smiled his toothy smile, and Monty's eyes inevitably traveled down to Winston's lips. 

Winston's attraction to Monty had never been stronger than at that moment. Here was this beautiful, tough guy who had shown him vulnerability, who was suffering, who needed to be loved. Monty looked strong enough to be able to break every bone in his body effortlessly, but all Winston wanted to do was take him in his arms and comfort him. 

Winston kissed Monty's lips, softly at first, before deepening the kiss passionately, possessively. It just occurred to him that this incredibly hot guy was all his. 

The moment Winston's lips touched his, Monty knew that tonight he was once again going to be ignoring that little voice in his head, a voice that sounded a lot like his father's, that told him kissing and touching Winston wasn't right. How could it feel so good if it wasn't right? Monty didn't know, and at that particular moment, he didn't care. Both of them forgot they were supposed to be watching a movie.

Monty hugged Winston tightly against his body, and hungrily took in every detail of Winston's face, as if he wanted to memorize it. His long eyelashes, the subtle dimples on his cheeks when he smiled, his hazel eyes that appeared to see right into his very soul. "I don't want to lose you."

Winston looked at Monty, surprised but very touched. "You're not going to lose me," he said, hugging Monty back affectionately. He started to give little kisses to the side of Monty's neck.

"I'm fucked up. I can't do anything right. I always lose everything, everyone." Monty sounded so broken that Winston stopped kissing him to look into his eyes. 

"Not me," Winston said firmly. Monty cast his eyes down and Winston kissed his forehead. He knew that loving Monty wasn't going to be easy, but he was glad to have the chance to try. "I promise."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading! The plot will start to kick off a bit in the next chapter, but I wanted Monty and Winston to bond a little more before the events I have planned come to pass. 😉
> 
> If you’re enjoying this story, please comment below or leave a kudos! Both are great for encouragement! ❤️


	3. Shame

"I want you to know that I'm sorry, man. I was just pissed," Bryce was saying as he and Monty climbed the steps of some rich kid's house on a hot summer evening. Loud party music was blasting inside, and Monty didn't recognize any of the people around them. He guessed they were mostly Hillcrest students. "I'm glad to be hanging out again."

"Yeah, me too."

"All right, it's time to get fucked up. I bet this house has top shelf whiskey." And after patting Monty's chest with the back of his hand, Bryce disappeared into the house amongst the sea of people.

Monty remained outside for a moment, taking a look around at the huge pool that could be seen below, and at the pretentious kids that surrounded him. 

Bryce had reached out to him a few days before and had invited him to this party. He told Monty that he would be transferring to Hillcrest for his senior year. It was a chance to start fresh after everything that went down at Liberty. Monty thought Bryce was feeling lonely, and that had made him regret pushing Monty away.

Monty was still seeing Winston often. He tried not to think about what that meant, or what their relationship was, and just concentrated on the fact that it made him happy. He now had both Winston and his best friend in his life, so he was forced to admit that things were going good for him this summer, as good as they could be for him anyway.

But Monty was careful not to be seen in public with Winston. One thing he knew for sure was that he didn't want anyone to find out about them. This is why when he walked away from the pool towards the house again and was met with curly hair and hazel eyes looking straight at him, he almost had a panic attack.

"What the fuck? What are you doing here?"

Winston chuckled. "Dude, chill. Do you think I'm going to start kissing you right here in front of everybody?"

"Shhh!" Monty looked around to make sure no one had heard him. "You knew I would be here with Bryce, I told you."

"Relax, I'll stay clear from the both of you," and with that Winston winked and walked away.

It took a few minutes for Monty's heartbeat to return to a normal rhythm. He found Bryce playing Beer Pong and joined him, determined to ignore the fact that Winston was somewhere around them. After the Beer Pong, they played Drunken Jenga, and by the time the tower fell Bryce was so shit-faced he could barely stand. Monty had to take a piss, so he left Bryce half-dead on a couch and went to find a bathroom upstairs. 

"Where's the fucking bathroom?" Monty slurred. He guessed he was a bit drunk too. He opened a door at random. Inside he found Winston lying on the floor, vinyl records scattered around him, looking absolutely gorgeous.

"Not the bathroom, friend. And don't piss on the bed. Rumor has it Purcell isn't much into that."

Monty laughed drunkenly, and Winston stood up, smiling. "Jesus, how wasted are you?"

He walked closer to Monty and then past him. Monty's eyes widened a little when he saw Winston lock the door. Winston slowly approached him again, his eyes never leaving Monty's face, and said, "you're so fucking beautiful."

When Winston's lips covered his own, Monty buried his hands in Winston's hair, grabbing and pulling at the strands. The kiss was anything but tender. It was possessive and demanding, and Monty was both horny and drunk enough to try something he had wanted to do for a while now.

With his right hand on Winston's head, Monty pushed him to his knees. With his left hand he began to unclasp his belt and pull down his zipper. Winston, smiling widely as he saw where this was going, helped Monty get his pants down before Monty practically shoved himself down Winston's throat. 

Monty's vision clouded as Winston wrapped his tongue around him. Monty had been fantasizing about doing this for some nights now, but he just hadn't known how to ask Winston to suck him off. He never could bring himself to say the words. The difficult decision to make now was whether to come on his lovely face or to just make him swallow. He decided it was better not to make a mess.

"Will you swallow it for me?" Monty asked him, feeling his climax building. Winston looked up and nodded as best as he could while humming his approval. "Good boy," was Monty's breathy response a second before his body convulsed with pleasure.

When Monty's pants were back on and his breathing had returned to normal, they agreed that Winston was going to wait five minutes after Monty left the room before he could leave it himself. As soon as Monty stepped into the hallway and closed the door behind him he heard someone calling him.

"Hey, there you are!" Somehow, Bryce had made it upstairs. "Where the hell have you been, buddy?" 

"Got lost looking for the bathroom, man. This place is huge," Monty said as he tried to get Bryce away from _that_ bedroom. "Let's get the fuck out of here. This party's full of rich fuck-heads, anyway. No offence," he added with a laugh when he got a pointed look from a passing blonde girl.

Monty was still trying to get Bryce downstairs when he saw Winston leaving the bedroom they had just been in. He cursed under his breath, but Bryce was so out of it that Monty didn't think he noticed. When they finally got downstairs they saw Alex Standall slowly making his way through the house as if he was looking for someone. 

"Alex, you made it!" Bryce yelled. Since when did Bryce invite Alex to parties? Monty was starting to get restless. Now there were two people from Liberty here, and Winston was still around somewhere. 

"Yeah, too bad we're just leaving," said Monty, and he started to drag Bryce out of the house. 

"I'm not here to party, Montgomery. Bryce knows what I'm here for. Can we get this over with?" Alex asked Bryce.

"Sure thing, I have them in my car."

It turned out scrawny Alex was into working out now, and he needed a little help. Bryce sold him the steroids inside his Range Rover. He even gave him the friend discount. They all left soon after that, at Monty's insistence.

Monty continued hanging out with Bryce that summer, but they didn't go to any more Hillcrest parties. He was also hanging out with Winston every time he could, out of town or in the privacy of Winston's room. Winston called him almost every night, and they talked for hours, usually until Winston could hear Monty's light snoring.

Monty's home life was the same as always, and when his father got to be a little much, he made himself scarce by spending the night at Winston's—who was right when he said his parents couldn't care less what he did. Winston's room was so far from theirs that most of the time they didn't even realize Monty had spent the night. Monty liked to sneak in through the balcony, climbing up and tapping the glass doors for Winston to let him in. Estela was a clever girl and made herself scarce, too. She had been spending a lot of time with Diego lately, so Monty was able to take a break from worrying too much about her. He trusted Diego to keep her safe.

When school started again, sometimes Monty got to dress Winston up in his pretty Hillcrest uniform in the morning. He looked so adorable that Monty often took it off immediately, making both him and Winston late to class.

Bryce was not doing well at Hillcrest, and missed Liberty and his friends more than ever. He was feeling the consequences of everything he had done, even if his money and power had kept him from prison. Bryce had very few friends left, and he realized he needed to become a better person if he wanted his life to improve. 

But the Walkers were still the Walkers, and whatever Bryce wanted he very often got. His wish of playing football at Liberty one last time was granted. People called it his Homecoming.

Monty and Diego were pumped for that game. They hadn't had a great season so far, and they thought Hillcrest was easy prey. They even spent time during weekends getting Charlie ready, and going over game strategy.

Winston warned Monty that he would be there the night of the game. He had to go and take pictures for the yearbook. Monty knew that would be a distraction for him but he tried not to let it affect him on the field. When the night of the game arrived, Winston was the furthest thing from his mind, or so he told himself. He was only thinking about football, and he almost felt like his old self, the person he was before he met Winston, before he had a secret he was constantly ashamed about. 

Monty was in the locker room with his team, tightening his shoes next to Charlie before the game, when he heard Bryce's voice as he greeted and hugged some of the guys. He had his Hillcrest varsity jacket on and a big smile on his face. It was clear he was happy to be back home. "Hey, guys. I need to talk to Monty for a minute." 

Instantly the room began to clear out, and Charlie said to Monty, "See you on the field," before leaving him alone with Bryce.

"So, what did you want to talk to me about?" Monty asked when they were finally alone.

Bryce turned his back on Monty. He looked like he was having trouble finding the right words to say. "You know, even after everything that happened, I've missed this school. I miss you, guys. The team. We had a good thing before I ruined everything."

"Yeah, well. If it makes you feel any better, Zach’s a really shitty team captain," said Monty, and they both laughed.

"Anyway, I've been trying to... be better, you know? To be a better person. And I feel like you are one of the people I did the most damage to," Bryce said, turning around to face Monty again.

Monty frowned, confused, "What are you talking about? We're brothers, you have done nothing but have my back for years."

Bryce looked down, and said "Yeah, but I have failed to help you when I knew you were having problems at home. I have also said and done some things over the years that may have prevented you from being who you really are."

Monty narrowed his eyes, and felt his body tense. "What are you talking about?" he asked again.

"I know about you and Winston." Monty's eyes widened and he stood up. "And I can understand why you're trying to keep it a secret. I'm part of that toxic jock culture you're currently stuck in. Hell, I helped build that culture. But things can change. You shouldn't have to be afra..."

"What the _fuck_ are you talking about?" Monty's nostrils were flared. He clenched his fists and took a step forward. Bryce had never seen him so mad. 

"Monty, I saw you at the Hillcrest party last summer. He was in that bedroom with you. And he's here today, isn't he? He wasn't on the bus but I saw him arrive in his Audi. I saw the way you looked at each other. To be honest, I was kind of expecting something like this. You've never shown interest in girls."

But what Bryce had not expected was the rock-solid fist that connected with his jaw a second later. The force of Monty's punch made the back of his body collide loudly with the lockers behind him. There was blood running down the side of his mouth. 

Monty was breathing hard, ready for Bryce to strike back, but Bryce merely looked at him and said, "I guess I deserved that."

"I'm not fucking gay," Monty spat. 

Bryce sighed. "Being gay won't make you any less of a tough guy. You've always been a badass, Monty, ever since I've known you. I love you, man. You're a fearless motherfucker, and you deserve to love fearlessly."

Monty wasn't ready to hear this. He looked ready to punch Bryce again when Coach Kerba entered the room, "What are you guys doing there? Get your asses out here, the game is about to start!"

Out on the field, Monty's head was not in the game at all. He had eyes only for Bryce, and he only cared about shutting him up. Diego, Charlie, or any of the others couldn't know about him. He was ashamed, and he spent all night trying to break Bryce in half, but Bryce showed no intention of wanting to say anything to anyone, although he was starting to get mad at Monty's provocations.

"Keep coming, Walker, keep coming."

"You think you're going to scare me?"

"I'm gonna fucking kill you."

"Okay, buddy."

Still glaring at Bryce, Monty turned away from him and saw Winston across the field, his face behind his Nikon camera, taking a picture of him. Winston lowered his camera and gave him a little smile. They held eye contact for a couple of seconds before Monty turned away, his heart hammering inside his chest.

The game was cut short after Jessica Davis and a bunch of her friends decided to get naked for some kind of protest. Some Hillcrest asshole crossed the line by grabbing her tits, and Monty fought alongside his team to teach those Hillcrest kids a lesson. 

After the fight was over and the game cancelled, Monty caught up to Bryce before he got on the Hillcrest bus. "Hey, Walker!" 

Bryce turned around, a resigned look on his face. "What's up, Monty?"

"What the fuck are you trying to prove?"

"I'm trying to prove that I'm worth something in this world. Just think about what I said. Allow yourself to be happy. I gotta go."

And with that Bryce got on the bus and left Monty standing alone in the parking lot. But he wasn't really alone. There was one more car there. A blue Audi R8. And the clicking sounds of a camera. 

Monty turned to his left and saw Winston leaning on his Audi, taking pictures of the Hillcrest bus as it drove away from campus and out of sight. 

"Hey."

Winston looked at him, and Monty loved the way Winston's face lit up when he saw him.

"Hey. You were great tonight. Until you got in a fight and the game got cancelled, that is," Winston said teasingly.

Monty snorted. "Well, the assholes from your school started it. We had no choice."

Winston gave him one of his irresistible smiles. "I got a lot of good pictures of you," he said as he held his camera. "Wanna see them? My parents are gone all weekend." He gestured towards his car.

Monty smirked and walked towards him.

He spent that Friday night with Winston. They looked and laughed at the pictures Winston took, and they made out on Winston's couch until Monty's hard-on was so painful he had to carry Winston to bed and take care of it. Winston fell asleep on Monty's chest as Monty stroked his hair. 

Monty stayed awake a bit longer, Bryce's words still resonating inside his mind. _You deserve to love fearlessly. Allow yourself to be happy._

Bryce Walker was murdered that night, and a few days later the police found his body. Monty was at school when he found out he had lost his brother.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading! Please leave a comment below or a kudos if you’re enjoying my story! Think of them as my fuel, haha. 😆 
> 
> For more Wonty content, you can follow me on Instagram: @foreverwonty ❤️


	4. Grief

**Notes for the Chapter:**

>  **Author’s note:** This chapter contains graphic descriptions of violence. Nothing gory or anything like that, but there are descriptions of child abuse. I have included them because to truly understand Monty’s character, we need to understand his reality; something the show failed to properly illustrate.

"So, who was at that party?" Monty asked Charlie as they made their way to the locker rooms to shower after training. 

"Oh, I wouldn’t really call it a party. It was just me and a bunch of the guys getting shit-faced."

"Yeah, but who was there, exactly?"

"It was just Luke, Kenneth, Taylor, Anderson, and me." 

"Listen, if anyone asks you, could you say I was there, too?"

"Uhm, yeah, sure," said Charlie, looking a little curious but asking no questions.

That was exactly the reason why Monty had chosen Charlie to be his alibi instead of Diego. Diego would ask too many unwanted questions. He wouldn't do it with bad intentions, but he would want to know what's going on. With Charlie it was easier to get him to do what you wanted. He was easily persuaded, and a bit spineless, but he was a good kid.

"Thanks, man. It's just that the police are making a big deal out of where everyone was that night, and I was alone so I got no one to vouch for me."

"Ok, sure. It's cool."

Monty patted Charlie on the back and smiled at him before grabbing his towel and making his way to the showers. The feeling of cold water hitting his sweaty body was not distraction enough to keep his thoughts away from Bryce. He felt numb, as if the news hadn't really sinked in yet, as if his brain was in denial to protect him from unbearable pain. The last thing they had done was fight. Monty had told him he would kill him, he had punched Bryce in the face because he was ashamed. That is how they had spent the last night of Bryce's life. 

Tears started streaming down his face. It was okay because he was alone, and they were mixing with the water from the shower. He could even pretend he wasn't crying at all. By the time he turned the shower off, he told himself he was fine again.

"Hey, man." Diego approached him out in the locker room. They both still had their towels wrapped around them. "How are you holding up?" He put a hand on Monty's shoulder and squeezed it. 

"I'm fine."

"Let me know if you need anything, okay? I know it hurts, Monty. You loved him. We all did."

"I didn't... love him."

Diego squeezed his shoulder again. "You loved him. He was your brother, and it fucking hurts. That's all okay, man."

Monty nodded. "Yeah, it fucking hurts."

Both Diego and Charlie had often tried to approach Monty like this without having much success. He was too closed up to let his friends make him feel better. Monty refused to talk about Bryce, and when they tried to check in on him to see how he was feeling, Monty just said he was fine. 

Winston was having a bit more success comforting Monty. Last night he had let Monty silently cry himself to sleep as he held him tight. He tried to spoil Monty as much as he could to get his mind off things, and his most recent idea involved a weekend road trip.

"I was thinking we could go away this weekend. My family has a house in Palm Springs. It could be fun," Winston said to Monty one Wednesday night. Monty was lying on top of him, his face in Winston's neck, as Winston rubbed his back. The weight of Monty's body felt good on him right now, but Winston knew they were going to have to switch soon. Monty was an almost two hundred pound tank.

"The whole weekend?" Monty sounded a bit excited, but something was holding him back. "I can't. Estela might need me." He shook his head.

"But I thought you said she was hanging out with Diego. He could check up on her. Make sure she's alright." Winston caressed the side of Monty's face, and traced Monty's lower lip with his thumb.

"I don't know... Maybe. Dad's been worse lately. The smallest things rile him up these days. He's mad that the police's been calling so much to confirm my statement."

Winston bit his lip. He didn't like that Monty had lied to the police about where he was on Homecoming night, but he forced himself not to say anything. To tell the truth of where he was that night, Monty would need to come out, and that's something Winston would never pressure him to do.

"Just think about it and let me know, okay? We could leave Friday after school and be back on Sunday."

Despite his initial doubts, late Friday afternoon found Monty sitting on the passenger's seat of Winston's car on the way to Palm Springs. He had packed a bag with everything he would need to stay away the whole weekend, and he had left his own car at Winston's house.

"What are you smiling about?" Monty asked Winston. The warm light of the desert sunset filtered through the car windows and made Winston’s gorgeous face look almost unreal. Monty couldn’t stop looking at him.

"Nothing," Winston replied, still smiling widely. Monty stared at him. "Shut up, I can't help it."

Monty laughed and took Winston's right hand in his own left hand, interlacing their fingers. This did nothing to wipe the smile off Winston's face, on the contrary, he looked so happy that Monty wanted to kiss him. But they would have enough time for that the next couple of days.

Monty wasn't used to luxury of any kind. His very small room at home had only one twin bed, an old nightstand that had actually belonged to Estela when it was new, and a tiny closet. The only decoration was a football poster on the wall next to his bed. The only nice things he had ever had access to had been Bryce's, but he was realizing that Winston was another level of rich.

This vacation house, as Winston had called it, was a stunning property located just a few blocks from downtown Palm Springs. The high clerestory windows and polished marble floors were almost too much for Monty. Everything had a kind of modern elegance. There were five bedrooms in total and the spacious master suite had a huge master bath and a walk-in shower. The terrace felt like their own private resort with its beautiful landscaping, large pool, and incredible views of San Jacinto mountain. This house was a paradise on its own, they would be fine spending the whole weekend inside it, but being at just walking distance from downtown Palm Springs, Winston thought it was worth a visit at some point during the weekend.

Winston's goal was to spoil Monty as much as possible. Even though Monty wasn't saying anything, Winston knew that Monty was feeling guilty that the last thing he and Bryce had done was fight. Winston wanted to take Monty away from his father, even away from the guys in the football team, so that he could let his walls down and grieve properly without being ashamed to admit that he loved his best friend like a brother. At least for a couple of days, he just wanted Monty to feel comfortable and safe, something Winston suspected Monty couldn't be with anyone else but him. Therefore, the weekend involved a lot of relaxed time by the pool, a lot of long baths together, and a lot of comfort food.

Winston understood that as important as it was to distract Monty and get his mind off things, it was also important to allow him the space to talk about his friend if he wanted.

"He knew about us. He told me right before the game," Monty said to Winston the second night they were there. "I didn't think he had noticed us, at the Hillcrest party last summer, but he had. And I guess he started to pay more attention after that."

This was news to Winston, who was silent for a moment. "Did he... was he an asshole about it? Is that why you were fighting on the field?"

Monty shook his head, eyes cast down. Winston could tell he was about to cry, and he hugged him tightly. "It's okay."

They had just gotten out of a long bath after spending almost all afternoon swimming in the pool, and were now comfortably snuggled together in the warm bed of the master suite. 

Monty sniffled and hugged Winston back, nuzzling his neck. "He wasn't an asshole about it. He wanted me to not be afraid of telling people and... be happy. I was just mad at him because he knew... and I didn't want him to tell anyone." In a lower voice, he added, "I know I'm a coward," as if he thought that was what Winston was thinking.

"You're not a coward, Monty," Winston said and gave a kiss to Monty's temple. "And you don't have to tell anyone anything if you don't want to."

"He just wanted to help. But I'm so fucked up that I pushed him away."

"You are not fucked up, don't say that," Winston said softly. It was not the first time Monty had said that about himself.

Monty didn't reply immediately, and when he spoke, it was barely audible. "I'm afraid I'll push _you_ away someday, too." Monty tightened his arms around Winston's smaller form, as if he couldn't bear the thought of what he had just said.

"I won't let you. I—" Winston was about to say _I love you_ , but thought better of it. He didn't want to scare Monty away. "I care too much about you."

Monty pulled his face away from Winston's neck to look him in the eye. 

"My dad would kill me if he found out. _And_ you."

Winston looked unconcerned, "I'll protect you. I'm not afraid of him.”

"You should be. I'm serious. You think you know what he can do, but he's much worse than you can imagine." Monty's face hardened. Winston needed to understand he wasn't kidding. His dad wasn't just a common drunkard, his hatred of everything that challenged his views of what a man and a woman should be ran deep, and it was no surprise that Monty had internalized those beliefs as well, being exposed to them and hurt by them since childhood. 

"Okay. I understand. But I will never let you push me away. I promised you that you weren't going to lose me, remember?" Winston had known from the very beginning what he was getting into when he decided to take a chance on Monty, but was he really prepared for how ugly it could all get?

Monty just held Winston tightly throughout the night, and secretly wished they could stay there forever.

But Sunday arrived, and after a morning trip downtown they made their way back to Evergreen. They made more than a few stops along the way—they stopped for food when Monty got hungry; they stopped when Winston wanted to take a picture of the sunset, it looked particularly beautiful over the desert mountains; and they stopped for bathroom breaks, during which they also stocked up on snacks.

They got to Evergreen later than they had anticipated, and Monty gave Winston a quick kiss goodbye before getting in his car and driving home. 

As soon as Monty got home he could tell something was very wrong. He could hear yelling from inside the house, he could make out Estela's furious voice and his dad's slurred one, he could hear things shattering, as if hell was breaking loose. He got out of his car and ran inside.

"Come here, you little slut!" His dad was holding a belt in one hand, and a bottle of beer in the other. Monty noticed he hadn't yet searched for the nightstick, that meant this fight had just started. There were broken frames and vases on the floor, no doubt had been knocked down by his father's drunken aim. 

"Leave me alone, you fucking psycho!" Estela was yelling as she ran through the house to lock herself inside her room. Their dad could easily get through that door, though, and Monty knew he was going to have to intervene. Tonight was going to be a bad night.

Apparently, Estela had been out with Diego and had gotten home later than she was supposed to. Mr de la Cruz had been drinking in front of the TV when she arrived, waiting for her with the belt in his hand. According to him, only whores got home at that time of night. Monty wondered why Estela hadn't just spent the night at Diego's and come back tomorrow when their old man would at least be sober and at work. That would have been the smart thing to do. Maybe she and Diego had had a fight.

To keep his father from Estela he would have to distract him, do anything to take the focus off her. Mr de la Cruz usually tired himself out, or collapsed from drunkenness, at the end of these episodes. Monty was strong enough to withstand him until that happened. 

"Hey! Leave her alone!" Monty reached out and tried to jank the belt out of his right hand, which caused Mr de la Cruz to hit him with his left hand, and the bottle of beer he was holding shattered to pieces as it came in contact with the side of Monty's head. Monty could hear Estela crying in her room. 

The blow made him fall to his knees, and it almost made him faint, but Monty held his ground. Fainting at a moment like that could be fatal. His father forgot about the belt and grabbed him by the hair with the intention of smashing his head against the wall, but Monty put up his arms to prevent most of the damage.

"You little criminal. I'm so fucking tired of the police calling every other day. Where the fuck were you that night, huh? Con Charlie y un montón de maricones?”

Furious, his father then began to punch him, on his abdomen, his face, anywhere he could reach. If that first hit to his head hadn't left Monty so dizzy, he would have put up more of a fight.

Mr de la Cruz seemed to think his fists weren't enough, because he stopped punching Monty and went outside to look for the nightstick. Monty didn't even know where his father had got it in the first place, he just knew his father had been using it to beat him up ever since he could remember.

Monty tried to stand up, not intending to be anywhere near his father's sight when the man came back inside, but then he heard a loud thump coming from the front yard. Guessing what that meant, Monty made his way out of the house and saw that his father had collapsed, face down, right there on the grass. He bent down and grabbed the nightstick that had fallen from his father's hands. "Not so tough now, you fucking piece of shit."

He caught movement on his left out of the corner of his eye. There was a Toyota Prius parked in front of his house. Clay Jensen and that new girl, Ani, were hiding behind it.

"What the fuck are you doing here?"

"We.. uh, nothing," Clay said.

"Is that blood?" Ani asked, looking at the nightstick in Monty's hand.

"What's it to you?"

"Is it Bryce's?" 

As soon as Clay had the audacity to ask that question, he must have gotten his answer from the tortured look on Monty's face. 

"What?" Monty was on the verge of breaking down. He thought he would go crazy with grief. A miserable laugh escaped from his lips. "No, it's _my_ blood. And _his_ ," he added, pointing to his dad with the nightstick. "Want a taste?" Monty now raised the stick towards them. 

"No, thanks."

"He was my best friend, asshole. Leave me the fuck alone."

Monty turned his back on them and went inside the house, leaving his unconscious father outside. Every part of his body hurt. He hid the bloodied nightstick under his bed and, lying down painfully on the hard mattress, he started to cry.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **Author’s note:** The weekend trip to Palm Springs was inspired by this quote from the actor who plays Winston,
> 
> “In developing that relationship, I was always referring to flashbacks that the show never had. Like, them jumping in the car and going to Palm Springs for the weekend, listening to great music and getting to know each other and really falling in love. People didn’t get to see that, but hopefully they felt that. It wasn’t just a one-night stand. They had a lot of love and a lot of fun together.”  
> —Deaken Bluman (Winston Williams)
> 
> You can see the full interview [here.](https://tvline.com/2020/06/09/13-reasons-why-season-4-ending-explained-monty-winston-interview/)


	5. Rage and Fear

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> "I got angry, and I lost myself. I did things out of **_rage_** and **_fear_** that weren't really what was in my heart."  
> —Montgomery de la Cruz

For the first time since he met him, Monty was pissed off at Winston. Winston, in turn, was furious at Monty's dad. Monty was already going through a lot, trying to grieve the death of his best friend, and on top of that he had to deal with an abusive father at home, a place where Monty should feel safe.

"You can't just keep on like this. You need to do something," Winston said for what seemed like the twentieth time. 

"Do what, exactly?" 

"Go to the police. I'll go with you."

Monty put both his hands on the top of his forehead in exasperation. "How is that going to make things better?"

After the beating he had taken from his father on Sunday night, Monty had missed an entire week of school, choosing to hide in his bedroom instead. He had told Winston all week that he couldn't hang out because he just wasn't feeling well, a lie that even he knew would not last long. Monty and Winston couldn't keep themselves away from each other, and on Friday evening Monty was at Winston's house, having his first fight with him after Winston saw his new bruises.

"Are you kidding me, Monty? He's hurting you, he's hurting Estela, he's hurting your mom. Don't you want to make all of that stop?"

"You don't get it. My mom would deny everything. Estela would do whatever mom tells her. And I would get the shit beat out of me, as always. So yeah, I don't think that's such a great idea." 

"Monty–"

"Winston, drop it."

There was nothing Winston could say to make Monty change his mind. Both of them thought they were right, and they argued until Monty couldn't take it anymore. Angry, Monty stormed out without a goodbye.

Bryce's funeral was held the next day, and Winston was seriously regretting not having been more understanding. Just thinking of Monty's dad made his blood boil, and he felt very strongly that Monty should go to the police so his home life could get better, but he also understood that people suffering from abuse often found it difficult to come forward. All Monty needed was his support, especially on a day like this, so Winston decided he would be there for him at the funeral. He would go, sit at a safe distance, and hopefully that would let Monty know that he didn't want to fight any more, and that he would always be there for him, whatever he needed.

Monty was sitting almost at the back of the church with the rest of the football team. He was between Diego and Charlie, who hadn't seen him all week and were both asking him about his bruises, wanting to know who he had gotten into a fight with.

"I got these during Homecoming," Monty lied, "Did you forget the punches I took from that Hillcrest jerk when I was trying to get Charlie out of the field before he got killed?"

"Bullshit," Diego said, "the bruises from Homecoming are almost gone now. Those are new, Monty."

Monty looked away from him and shrugged. 

Diego leaned closer towards Monty and whispered, "Did your dad do that to you?" In a deadlier tone he asked, "Did he hurt Estela, too?"

Monty gave no answer.

"Damn it, Monty. I need to know what's going on. She won't talk to me, she's not responding to any of my calls or texts."

"Yeah, and why is that? What did you do to her?"

"You know damn well I would never do anything to hurt her."

"You must really have, because she hasn't even told me what happened."

Diego breathed deeply before taking out his phone and showing it to Monty. There was a very racy text there from Jessica Davis. The text was sent last Sunday night.

"I swear I don't know how she got my number, but she's gotten it into her mind to use me to get Justin Foley jealous," Diego explained. "Estela saw the text and she thought the worst. I couldn't get her to stay at my place after that."

"Well, you fucked up. Because it all went to shit as soon as she came home." Monty could feel his anger threatening to come to the surface. He had gotten one of the worst beatings of his life because of some stupid text.

"I fucked up? Your dad gets away with beating the shit out of both of you and you do nothing." Diego was also losing control of his temper. It took a lot of his willpower to keep his voice to a whisper.

"You think I do nothing? Fucking take a look at me! I take beatings for her all the damn time. What the fuck do you do for her? I go away one weekend and come back to hell breaking loose at my house because you can't stop yourself from fucking around with Jessica Davis."

Diego frowned, exhaling hard through his nose. "And where were you all weekend, exactly? Let me guess. With Charlie, again? And a bunch of the guys?" Diego asked sarcastically.

"None of your fucking business."

The fact that Diego had just implied that he knew Monty was hiding something made Monty's anger turn to rage. Monty told himself that Diego couldn't know about Winston, and as he was trying to get his temper under control, he looked back and saw Winston himself entering through the double doors of the church. He gave Monty the smallest of smiles before he made his way to find a seat as farther away from Monty as possible. Shocked and wondering what was Winston thinking that made him show up here, Monty looked at Diego to make sure he hadn't seen Winston. To his absolute horror, not only had Diego noticed Winston as he entered, but both he and Charlie were currently looking in Winston's direction.

"Who is that guy? I've never seen him before."

"Maybe a friend Bryce made at Hillcrest?" Charlie suggested.

"Maybe. Have you seen him around, Monty?"

"I've never seen that faggot in my life." Monty's chest tightened painfully, and he was finding it hard to breathe. Saying that about Winston hurt him more than any beating his father had ever given him, but at that moment, fear overpowered any other feeling, including pain.

Charlie looked at him, and seemed almost hurt for a second. 

"What?" Monty asked him.

"Nothing."

Suddenly, as Bryce's mom was preparing herself to give her speech, a girl stood up, and then another, and another, all yelling things like "Bryce Walker was a rapist!" or "Mourn the survivors, not the rapist!" and then there was absolute chaos. 

Nora Walker had expected something like this. There had been flyers around school made by the girls from Hands Off Our Bodies, so she had requested additional security around the funeral. She was also concerned that the primary suspect of Bryce's murder, Clay Jensen, was in attendance. Adding more security seemed like the right choice. 

Mr Walker was now furiously screaming and calling out for the police to do something. The cops moved in and one by one they arrested these girls, escorting them out and taking down their banners. 

Everyone then fell into a kind of stupefied silence. A funeral was a place for the living to mourn their dead. These girls were not hurting Bryce, who was dead now and beyond the reach of pain. They were hurting the people who were still alive and who were struggling to mourn the death of a boy they loved. 

Charlie and Diego had had to use all the strength they had to restrain Monty and keep him in his seat. The look on Monty's eyes was murderous; he was beside himself with fury.

"Calm down, Monty. There's nothing we can do. The police are taking care of it," Diego said to him.

"Those stupid girls didn't know him–" Monty started saying, but he stopped talking when he heard his voice break. Reluctantly, he stopped struggling.

"Bryce was always really nice to me," Charlie said softly.

"That was really fucked up, what they did. But they're gone now. Probably most of them will get to spend the night in jail, at the very least. Mr Walker will make sure of that," Diego said reassuringly to Monty.

Monty was starting to calm down and even agreed to sit down, but he was far from being fine. He was in a dark place; a persistent thought would not leave his mind: that only bad things ever happened to him. 

Winston was looking at Monty with a concerned look on his face, and for a moment it seemed like he was going to come over to where Monty was with his friends, probably to make sure he was okay. Monty, enraged and unstable as he was at that moment, noticed that, and the thought of it terrified him. He pulled out his phone and texted Winston, 

"DON'T COME OVER HERE.

THE LAST THING I NEED RIGHT NOW IS FOR PEOPLE TO FIND OUT I'M A FUCKING FAGGOT.

WHY ARE YOU EVEN HERE? TO EMBARRASS ME? JUST GO AWAY."

He sent those three texts in quick succession, and by the time he had sent the last one and looked up to where Winston was, he already regretted them. Winston was sitting down again, and it didn't seem likely that he would come over anymore. The few seconds that passed before Winston saw those texts were pure agony for Monty. Then he saw Winston taking his phone out of his pocket, and his heart broke as he watched Winston read them.

"I didn't mean that," he texted immediately. 

A few seconds passed. Winston was still looking down, but that last text was still showing as unseen.

Then, Winston stood up, and slowly started to make his way out of the church. Monty's eyes followed him until he exited through the double doors and out of sight. His first instinct was to get up and go after him, but he seemed to be frozen in place, and Diego touched his arm to get his attention.

"Hey, man. I just want to say I'm sorry about what I said earlier. The conversation got out of hand. I just really like your sister, and I can't stand the thought of her getting hurt because of me. You know how it is with us hotheads. We get angry and we say things we don't mean. We should be looking out for each other, not fighting like this."

Monty nodded, "Yeah, you're right." Monty thought Diego was alright. He was Monty's best friend now that Bryce was gone. Not wanting to lose any more people, Monty vowed to get his temper under control, even if that sometimes felt like an impossible thing to do. "Thanks for always looking out for Estela. I know you really care about her."

Diego smiled at him and they could hear Charlie saying, "Awww."

"Shut up, Charlie," Diego and Monty said at the same time, while Diego stood up to ruffle and ruin Charlie's hair. 

Diego couldn’t have said it better. When anger takes over—and anger is just a symptom of fear—we say things we almost always regret. Monty knew he needed to beg Winston for forgiveness, and that was something he had never done in his life. To give a true, heartfelt apology was not something Monty had ever learned to do, but if he wanted to get back the best thing that had ever happened to him, he was going to have to learn how.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **Author's note:**  
>  I think this is the hardest chapter I've had to write so far. I hate to have Winston and Monty fighting, but Monty still has a lot to learn before he can accept himself enough to stop hiding and be truly happy. He's going to go through some stuff before that happens, there's going to be a lot of highs and lows, but he will be a better person in the end, with Winston's help. I hope you will stick with me till the end of this journey.


	6. Regret

The Monday after Bryce’s funeral, the police held a press conference officially naming Clay Jensen as a person of interest in the murder investigation. This juicy piece of news was all the students of Liberty High could talk about, and Monty watched as the whole school whispered and stared at Clay. 

Ani, that girl that was always with Clay, spent all morning nosing around and asking people questions, no doubt trying to find out something that could help her friend. To Monty’s annoyance, she seemed to be talking to a lot of football players. Monty leaned against his locker as he watched Ani corner Kenneth near the Spanish classroom. The way they both turned their heads towards him made Monty think they were talking about him.

“Don’t worry, we got your back.” Luke said, startling Monty out of his paranoid thoughts. 

“Shit, Luke. Don’t sneak up on people like that.”

Luke laughed. “Relax.” He looked in the direction of Ani. “That girl has asked most of us the same question, and every time she has gotten the same answer. You went with us to Charlie’s house after the Homecoming game. And that’s that. We got you.” 

Monty nodded, grateful. “Thanks, man.”

“Anytime.” Luke smiled as he patted Monty’s back. “Come on, we’re gonna be late to class.”

Monty decided not to give the matter any more thought. He knew he could count on his team. Besides, he had something more important to worry about: the fact that Winston had not forgiven him yet.

Unfortunately, Winston had taken a page out of Estela’s book and wasn’t taking any of his calls or responding to his texts. It was hard to apologize to him if he couldn’t reach him, but that hadn’t stopped Monty from texting Winston every minute of the day. 

Monty: “Lunch’s over. I’m going to class now.”

Monty: “Charlie has been pestering me all morning, making sure I have everything that I missed last week. He says I can’t afford to let my grades drop because this is the time when college recruiters look for talented football players to offer them scholarships. As if I had a shot at that.”

Monty: “I guess he’s just being a good friend.” 

Monty: “Anyway, I’ll talk to you later.”

This monologue had been going on since Bryce’s funeral last Saturday. After Monty had sent a long text apologizing, and after trying to call Winston without success, he resorted to this relentless spam. He texted Winston “Good morning” as soon as he opened his eyes, he updated him on everything that happened throughout the day, and he texted him “Good night” before going to sleep, all without receiving a single reply back. Monty wasn’t worried about annoying Winston, because an annoyed Winston could maybe reply back, even if it was to tell him to back the fuck off. What worried Monty was something worse: that he may have lost Winston forever, that he may never see or talk to Winston again. Instead of grappling with that possibility, he was in a stubborn kind of denial, because he couldn’t face the fact that he may have ruined the best thing he had going on in his life.

At that moment, Winston was at Hillcrest getting into class himself. He thought it was ironic how Monty had been avoiding him last week to hide the fact that his father had beat him up again, and this week it was Winston who was ignoring Monty. Admittedly, it was a hard thing to do when your phone buzzed every few minutes. He had had to switch it to silent mode so his teachers wouldn’t take his phone away.

What Monty had texted him at Bryce’s funeral had really hurt his feelings. It had been evident that Monty was really upset when those girls protested the funeral, and for a moment Winston had forgotten all about hiding. All he could think about then was to do something to comfort Monty, and he had stood up without thinking, and had taken a few paces in Monty’s direction. He had remembered himself in time, though, and had sat back down. 

Since the beginning of their relationship, Winston had known Monty was nowhere near ready to publicly come out. It was something he had accepted. He didn’t mind hiding as long as he could be with Monty, and he liked the idea of being there for Monty as he learned to accept himself. 

But it was one thing to not be ready to come out, and quite another to tell your partner that he embarrassed you. His heart was crushed and his pride was hurt, and as much as he wanted to, he couldn’t bring himself to forgive Monty just yet.

His phone screen lit up again. Another text. Winston was constantly saying to himself that he would just ignore them, but always ended up reading them immediately.

Monty: “Oh, and also, I forgot to tell you that this girl that’s friends with Clay Jensen has been asking people questions about where they were on Homecoming night. Probably looking for someone she can pin the murder on to save Clay’s neck.”

Monty: “I swear she must have gone through half the football team by now.”

Monty: “But for real now, I have to put my phone away, the teacher’s looking at me funny. Talk to you later.”

Winston stared at his screen for a few seconds. _Asking people questions about where they were on Homecoming night._ The fact that Monty had lied to the police and given a false alibi made Winston a little uneasy, and to have this girl, or even Clay Jensen himself, looking into it was definitely not good.

Winston’s fingers hovered over the keyboard on his phone screen. He closed his eyes before breathing deeply, then opened them again and began to type.

Winston: “Did Charlie stick to the story?”

Monty’s eyes widened. Winston had replied. A blissful wave of relief washed through his body. He hurried to answer. The teacher be damned. There was no way she could take his phone away now, anyway. He would rather risk detention than hand over his phone now that Winston was talking to him again.

Monty: “She hasn’t talked to Charlie yet, but she did talk to Luke and a few other guys, and they all had my back. I’m not really worried, I trust them.”

Message seen. A few seconds passed. Now that Winston had finally replied, Monty’s brain seemed to have stopped working. He couldn’t think what to say. He kept coming back to the same thing, what he felt he should say over and over. What he hadn’t said to anyone in his life before but would say to Winston as many times as it took for him to forgive him.

Monty: “I’m really sorry. I really fucked up. I miss you.”

Seen. No response.

Monty: “Please don’t shut me out again.”

By the time school was over, Monty had still not gotten any other reply from Winston. It had been a long, stressful day. The fact that Ani was asking around about Homecoming night, all the catching up he had to do due to missing a whole week of school, and worst of all, Winston being mad at him, all of that overwhelmed and exhausted him. He just wanted to get home, lock himself in his room and lie down for a bit. He was about to call Estela to see if she wanted a ride home when she called him.

“Hey, I just got off the phone with mom. She says it would be best if we didn’t come home just now.”

“What? Why?”

Monty could hear Estela’s sigh through the phone. “Dad got home from work early, drunk as hell.”

“Fuck, is she okay?”

“Yeah, but she doesn’t think we should be there right now. It’s only gonna cause trouble.”

“Damn it, for how long are we supposed to stay away?”

“I don’t know, I guess we wait for her to call us. I’m gonna go to Diego’s in the meantime. You got a place to go, right?”

“Yeah, sure,” Monty lied. Apparently, Estela and Diego had made up. Good, Monty thought, Diego really cared about her.

By the tone of her voice, Monty could tell Estela was smirking when she said, “When are you going to introduce me to this mystery girl you’re hiding? I have to thank her, you have spent so much time with her these past few months, I barely see your stupid face anymore.”

“Shut up.”

Estela let out a carefree and contagious laugh. It even made Monty smile a little. “Seriously, though, I’m glad you got someone. You seem happier. Anyway, I gotta go. See you later.”

“See you.”

Monty got in his car and started to drive around aimlessly. He was thinking about buying some food when he realized he had spent all the money he brought to school that day during lunch with the guys. Going home wasn’t an option yet, so he would just have to stay hungry for now. 

After an hour or two of this aimless driving, he found himself on the same spot near the beach where he had met Winston almost six months ago. He had been avoiding his father that day, too. Nothing about his home life had changed since then, that was for sure. But Estela was right. He had been happy—the happiest he had ever been in his life—when he was with Winston. And he had screwed everything up.

After turning off his car, Monty put both arms on the steering wheel and rested his forehead on them. His stomach was growling and his eyes stinged with the tears he refused to let out. He didn’t know how much time he spent like that but he could feel the temperature getting colder as nightfall arrived. The salty wind was getting chillier. After a while, he started the car up again, and drove away. 

But he was no longer driving aimlessly, Monty knew where he wanted to be. Before he knew it, he was parked next to Winston’s house, in the usual spot nearest Winston’s bedroom. The balcony he had climbed up so many times before to sneak in was deserted, the dark blue curtains that covered the glass doors from the inside were not closed all the way, and Monty could see a warm dim light between them. 

Just thinking about how much he missed Winston made his chest feel painfully tight. He got out of his car and, without thinking if what he was doing was right or wrong, he approached the house and climbed up Winston’s balcony. 

There he was. Monty could see him through the space between the curtains. He was sleeping in his bed. Unfortunately, his body was turned away from the doors leading to the balcony and all Monty could see was his curly black hair and a bit of his upper back. Monty didn’t want to wake him, but he didn’t want to go either, so he sat right there on the floor, leaning his back against the glass doors. It was a cold, late November night, and Monty’s Liberty varsity jacket wasn’t quite enough to keep him warm, but he wanted to be as close to Winston as possible. He brought his knees to his chest and put his arms around them, resting the back of his head against the glass behind him. 

Inside the room, Winston’s sleep was light and troubled. His eyes fluttered open and he turned himself around in bed before trying to fall asleep again. He got the scare of his life when he saw someone sitting outside his balcony, leaning against one of the glass doors. His heart began to race but he breathed a sigh of relief when he recognized the blue varsity jacket and the spiked up light brown hair. Immediately, he got out of bed and tapped on the glass, making Monty jump to his feet. 

Winston opened the door and shivered slightly as his naked torso was exposed to the cold night air. “What are you doing here?”

Monty couldn’t take his eyes off Winston’s face. He had to restrain himself from touching him, hugging him, kissing him. “I’m sorry. I just… missed you. I wanted to see you, but you were sleeping, and I didn’t want to wake you up.” Winston’s face looked so incredibly sad that Monty took a tentative step forward and asked him, “What’s wrong?”

“What were you thinking?” Winston’s face may have looked sad but he sounded outraged. “Were you going to spend the whole night there? Are you crazy?”

“I’m sorry,” Monty said again.

Winston took Monty’s freezing hands in his own and pulled him into the bedroom before closing the doors.

“You weren’t taking any of my calls. I just wanted to see you and say how sorry I am in person,” Monty shook his head as if to keep himself from crying. “I told you I was fucked up, I knew I would screw this up. But you are the best thing that has ever happened to me. I can’t believe I lost you.”

Winston sighed and took Monty’s face in his hands. “As I keep reminding you, I promised you that you were never going to lose me. I was always going to forgive you, Monty. I was just hurt. You really hurt my feelings. But that doesn’t mean I want you to spend a night outside my bedroom and freeze to death.” He said the last sentence half jokingly, trying to lighten things up and make Monty smile.

But Monty couldn’t hold back the tears this time. He tried to turn his face to hide them, but Winston held it still and pulled it closer to lock their lips together. Realizing how cold Monty still was, Winston took off his frozen varsity jacket and got Monty into his bed, trying to warm him up. 

Monty’s lips found Winston’s again, and when the tip of Winston’s tongue traced his lower lip he began to pull down his zipper to get out of his jeans. “I missed you so much.” When they were both in their underwear, Winston got on top of Monty and started grinding against him as he ran his hands over Monty’s broad chest, his arms, his abs. Monty was getting desperate and was starting to pull at Winston’s underwear to take it off. Winston smiled and stopped what he was doing to look for the lube. After that had been taken care of, Monty showed signs of wanting to pin down Winston against the mattress and take control of the situation, but Winston had other plans. “Not tonight,” he told Monty as he climbed on top again, “tonight I want to ride you.” It wasn’t Monty’s favorite position, he didn’t feel in control when he was lying on his back, but he wanted to make Winston happy tonight.

Monty’s eyes rolled back into his head as Winston slowly lowered himself down on him. Winston paused for a minute after Monty was fully inside him. Lube or no lube, it had been a little more than a week since they had last had sex, and he took a moment to let his body get used to the feeling again. Monty’s hands were on his hips, and he could feel Monty trying to move underneath him. Winston laughed softly, “Be patient,” he said, “and stay still.”

“Move already, you’re driving me crazy.” The urgency in Monty’s voice made Winston laugh delightedly again, and he obeyed. 

Slowly, Winston started to move up and down, enjoying the way Monty closed his eyes and let his head fall back with a moan. “You like that?” Winston asked and Monty nodded, his eyes still closed, as he bit his lower lip. Maintaining the same rhythmic movement of his hips, Winston reached down to kiss him. 

As soon as Monty could feel Winston’s tongue inside his mouth he broke the kiss and breathed, “F-fuck, I’m gonna come too soon.”

Winston, who was on the edge himself, ruthlessly kept on riding him until Monty gripped his hips painfully, pulling Winston down as he came violently. A moment later, Winston, still feeling Monty throbbing inside of him, climaxed all over Monty’s body.

Monty wrapped his arms around Winston, pulling him down into an embrace as he buried his face in Winston’s hair. He almost felt like crying as the smell of Winston’s scent reminded him how much he had missed him. He knew that Winston deserved better than him, he realized that the right thing to do would be to walk away from his life and let him find someone good who could treat him right. But Monty couldn’t do it. If the past few days had taught him something, it was that he couldn’t be happy without Winston.

Winston raised his head to look at him, a pleased smile on his face. “Let’s go take a shower,” Monty’s stomach growled loudly at that exact moment, making Winston laugh, “and then I can get you something to eat.”

That night they slept wrapped in each other’s arms, and Monty left early the morning after as Winston was getting into his Hillcrest uniform. Monty kissed him goodbye and fought the sudden impulse of throwing him on the bed and taking that uniform right off. That would make them both late and he still had to stop at home for a change of clothes before going to school.

Monty’s mood that day was so different from the day before that Diego and Luke both teased him about it, jokingly asking him if he had gotten laid last night. Monty told them to go to hell and their booming laughter could be heard throughout the whole school. 

As Monty opened his locker to get a textbook, he saw Ani approach Charlie. She whispered something to him, and Charlie followed her into an empty classroom. A moment later, Clay Jensen and Alex Standall got into that classroom as well, closing the door behind them.


	7. Betrayal

Deep down, Charlie St. George had always known he was different. Yes, he liked to check out girls with his friends, and he wasn't lying when he said he found some of them attractive. But at the same time, he found himself looking at boys just as much as he looked at girls, and in pretty much the same way. About that he had never said a word to anyone. He had come to terms with who he was, but he wasn't sure he was ready to share that with other people yet, especially with his friends from the football team.

The team was like a family, it was the group of people with whom Charlie spent most of his time, and if they didn't accept him, he would be as heartbroken as if the rejection had come from his blood-related family. He wanted to be himself around them, but sometimes while joking around, the guys could make comments that made him uncomfortable. He was really close to Luke and Diego, who could both be very macho and who seemed like they had strong opinions on what being a guy meant, and he was also really close to Monty, who had used the word _faggot_ in the past, making his feelings about gay people clear.

Charlie hadn't worried too much about it. He had been content with things staying the same, but lately someone had begun to catch his eye, and he knew he would not want to hide if something happened between them.

Alex Standall sat next to him in Spanish class, and they had done a couple of assignments together. Charlie liked spending time with him, and sometimes he thought Alex liked him, too, even though he had never actually said anything. It was the way they smiled and looked at each other every time they sat down in class, or the way Alex's hand would touch his while going over the class material, the touch lingering a bit longer than necessary.

Therefore, when Ani Achola approached him that morning and told him that Alex wanted to talk to him about something important, he immediately followed her to an empty classroom.

"So, what does Alex want to talk to me about? Where is he?"

"Alex always speaks very well of you, Charlie," Ani said, and Charlie could feel himself blushing, "And I'm sure you're aware that Alex is a very close friend of mine, and of Clay Jensen, too."

"Yeah," was Charlie's reply, unsure where this was going.

"We're both extremely worried about Clay, and we've been trying to do everything we can to help him. We know he didn't kill Bryce, but there's someone out there that did, and Clay could pay for a crime he didn't commit if we don't do something."

"I'm truly sorry about that, but I'm not sure how I could be of any help."

"You could start by helping us identify the people that definitely didn't do it. Those people that have a solid alibi."

"Was this really what Alex wanted to talk to me about?"

Ignoring that, Ani continued, "As I understand it, after the Homecoming game, some of the guys went to your house. Kenneth was there, and Taylor, Luke, Anderson. Was someone else there?"

"Yeah," said Charlie after an almost unnoticeable moment of hesitation, "Monty was there, too."

"Really? Because you don't look too sure. Kenneth didn't either."

"No, yeah, he was definitely there." Ani was making him unsettled, and Charlie wished he hadn't followed her to that classroom.

At that moment, Clay and Alex entered the room and closed the door behind them. Alex smiled at Charlie, and Charlie smiled back, feeling himself grow more nervous.

"Hey, Charlie. I'm sorry we're putting you on the spot like this. We're just worried about Clay," Alex said as Clay raised a hand in greeting.

"That's okay. It's just... like I said to Ani, I can't really help you guys."

Ani's eyes darted to Alex, and she seemed to back away as Alex stepped closer to Charlie.  
"We think... _I_ think Monty didn't go to your house after the Homecoming game. I think you're trying to cover for him," Alex said.

"Wh-Why would you think that?"

"I know you're not like the rest of the football team, Charlie," Alex continued, ignoring Charlie's question, "Lately, I've gotten to know you better and I know that you're capable of doing the right thing. We've grown kind of close, you and me. At least, that's what I thought." Alex cast his eyes down, as if embarrassed.

"Yeah, we have!" Charlie hurried to say, and then blushed. "I mean, I feel the same way."

"You know how I told you about the time I tried to kill myself?" Charlie nodded somberly, "Well, I don't think I ever told you that while I was recovering, Monty sent me a gun. According to the message he left, it was for me to _finish the job_."

Charlie looked at him, wide-eyed. "He wouldn't do that..."

"He did," interjected Clay, "and he also tried to kill me last semester. He ran me off the road one night while I was on my bike."

"We know Monty's capable of doing terrible things," Alex said as he stepped even closer to Charlie, "and we thought you shouldn't protect someone without having all the information, especially when that involves lying to the police during a murder investigation."

Clay and Ani looked at each other briefly. Of course, they neglected to mention to Charlie how much they themselves were lying to the police, and the fact that all the horrible things Monty did last semester were done to protect Bryce during the trial, which made it even more unlikely for Monty to have been the one to kill him.

But all of this seemed to be having an effect on Charlie, who was looking more and more troubled. All he remembered was how Monty had been antagonizing Bryce on the field that night, how mad he had seemed to be at Bryce.

"You really think Monty could have killed Bryce?" It seemed ridiculous to Charlie when he said it out loud, and he laughed incredulously, but he got the answer to his question from the grave faces of the others, even before Alex responded.

"We think it's a very real possibility," Alex lied, "that's why we are counting on you to do the right thing. The person who really did it needs to be caught, and that person may not be Monty, but the police need to be the ones to determine that."

"Did he really send you a gun?" Charlie asked, shocked and starting to get a little angry. He didn't notice the victorious glint in Alex's eyes as Alex took both of his hands in his own and squeezed them. 

"He did, and I swear I don't know where I got the strength to keep myself from doing it again," Alex said, trying to sound as sad as he could. 

Charlie hugged him tightly, unshed tears stinging his blue eyes. "Alright, I'll tell you the truth."

Clay and Ani both looked expectant. Alex pulled back slightly from the hug to look into Charlie's eyes.

"Monty wasn't at my house that night. I don't know where he was, but he told me he had been alone."

"He didn't go to your house at any point that night?" Ani asked.

Charlie shook his head sadly.

"Would you be willing to say that to the police?" Alex asked him, still keeping his arms wrapped around Charlie.

Charlie looked unsure. 

Ani's mind was already racing, and her half-formed plan was beginning to take shape. She and Clay had spent almost all month trying to figure out who killed Bryce, and Ani had thought that once they did, Clay would be saved. But now that they knew that Alex was the one to do it, everything had gotten much more complicated. She now had two friends to protect instead of one. Three, actually, since Jessica had been involved, too. Desperate measures needed to be taken. Lies needed to be told for the greater good.

She said to Charlie, "Clay and I found a blood-stained nightstick in Monty's car. Even if he didn't kill Bryce, he's still guilty of something." Hoping that Charlie was as easy to persuade as he looked, she went on, "And I'm sure that if we keep looking, we will find more stuff that will be of interest to the police. And we could use your help with that."

"My help?" 

Alex refused to end the hug, as it seemed to be encouraging Charlie to speak. He tightened his arms around Charlie as Ani asked, "Do you, by any chance, happen to know Monty's locker combination?"

Clay gave Ani a questioning look, and Charlie swallowed before nodding. 

When Ani had gotten what she wanted, Charlie left the room, and Alex closed the door behind him. 

"Well, that went better than expected, but he still won't tell the truth about Monty's alibi to the police," Alex said, sighing and putting his left hand inside the pocket of his jeans, his right hand gripping his cane.

"I'm almost certain that he will, when the police contact him again," Ani said, the plan that had begun to form as soon as she suspected that Monty's alibi wouldn't hold up was now clear in her mind. 

"Why did you ask him for Monty's locker combination? Do you really expect to find something there?" Clay asked Ani.

"We're not going to find anything, but the police will. We need to talk to Jessica. And we need to act fast."

Alex went to get Jessica, and a few minutes later Ani told them all her plan to tie Monty to the crime scene.

"Are you sure this will work?" Jessica asked Ani, a bit skeptical. It seemed to her that a lot of things could go wrong.

"I think this is our best shot to help Clay. We need to do something, we can't just sit around waiting for the police to arrest him."

"I still don't know how I feel about this. We can't just have him take the fall," Clay said.

"Clay, I think you still don't get how serious things are getting for you. You are a person of interest in this murder and the only reason they haven't arrested you is because they don't have enough evidence to do so, yet. We need to get the focus off you, and Monty is perfect for that. Not only was he fighting with Bryce the night he died, but he also doesn't have an alibi."

"But Ani, he's going to go down for _murder_."

"There are still a lot of things about this case that don't make sense to the police, Clay. Maybe it won't be enough to actually convict him," Ani said, trying to get Clay on board. "I think our goal right now should be to confuse the detectives as much as possible. They won't be able to determine a cause for arrest against you if we create enough uncertainty about the evidence," Ani explained.

"Reasonable doubt, and all of that, right?" Alex said.

"Something like that. But it's only going to work if we have each other's backs, and keep our mouths shut. Do we all agree?"

Alex gave his assent. "I agree," Jessica said, scared but determined.

They all looked at Clay. He closed his eyes for a moment and sighed, "Alright, I'm in."

Jessica knew what she had to do, and she understood why she was the only one that could do it. Later that day, she walked into the guys' locker room right before football practice as planned, making a show of looking for a certain latinx. Out of all her friends—not including Justin, who wasn't talking to her right now—she was the only one who could be there without anyone finding it suspicious. 

The guys were already starting to file out of the locker room and into the field, but they told her that the one she was looking for was still inside. She found him rummaging into his gym bag, and he didn't see her until she was close enough to touch him.

"Hi, Diego," she greeted him silkily. 

"What are you doing here?" Diego asked her, surprised to find himself alone in the locker room with her.

Jessica wasn't proud of the way she had tried to use him lately to make Justin jealous, but she had to admit that it had come in handy today. 

Ever since Justin had found out the truth about the night Bryce died, he was having trouble coming to terms with it. Jessica knew Justin still loved her, but Bryce had been a significant part of his life for too long. She loved Justin more than anything in the world, and had hoped that if he saw her with another guy, he would come to his senses and go back to her. 

Because of how obvious she had made her supposed attraction for Diego to the guys in the football team, nobody found it weird that she was there asking for him, just as Ani had predicted, and Justin looked furious when he saw her, so she was killing two birds with one stone.

"I just wanted to tell you that I'm starting to get tired of you playing hard to get."

"I'm not playing hard to get, I'm with Estela and you know it," Diego said, starting to walk away from her.

"Is that still going on?" 

The mocking incredulity in Jessica's tone annoyed Diego, who turned back to her, frowning.

"Yes, it is. And I'd appreciate it if you never talked to me, or texted me, again."

Diego walked out of the locker room, hoping to God that no one would tell Estela he had been alone in there with Jessica. He knew how that would look to her, and that girl had a temper. He guessed it was in the genes.

Jessica's vanity was a bit wounded, but this had been exactly what she had been counting on: Diego walking out and leaving her alone in the boys' locker room. She darted to Monty's locker, mentally thanking Charlie for giving them the combination, and planted there the blood-stained tape that Bryce had given her the night he died. Seconds later, she was walking out of the locker room, texting Ani that it was done.

Meanwhile, Monty was just getting out of Coach Kerba's office. The chat they had gave Monty a lot to think about and for the first time ever he couldn't wait for practice to be over, just so he could tell Winston all about it. 

He played one of the best games of his life during that practice, and it probably had a lot to do with the fact that he felt excited for the first time in a long time. Not only was everything going great with Winston, but Coach Kerba had just told him he believed he could get Monty a scholarship. To Monty's astonishment, Coach Kerba had reached out to a few coaches in different colleges, putting in a good word for him and sending them his stats. 

Monty knew his grades were nothing special—most of the time he couldn't concentrate well enough to study at home—so he tried not to get his hopes up, but going to college meant getting away from his father for good, which was something he always dreamed about doing. Kerba had told Monty it was important that he behaved himself and kept out of trouble, and if he kept playing like that, there was no reason why he shouldn't get an offer.

Winston was very happy for Monty when he found out. Monty had walked away alone after practice to give him a quick call, and even though Winston's first thought was that they would be separated if Monty got a scholarship far away from Princeton, he managed to supress that worry and transmit nothing but excitement through the phone. He agreed with Coach Kerba that Monty should keep a low profile and be on his best behavior to make a good impression with the recruiters. This was too important to screw up.

"Does Princeton recruit football players? Maybe we could go there together." Winston just couldn't help saying.

"Me? Go to Princeton? Please," Monty scoffed.

Winston didn't agree with him out loud but he knew that, as much as he wanted them to go to college together, it would take nothing short of a miracle for Monty to get into Princeton. He had only got in himself because he paid someone else to take the SAT for him, and the fact that he had a family legacy there didn't hurt either. 

"How did you do on your SAT?" Winston asked him.

Monty hesitated for a moment. "I got a decent score, I guess," he said, not used to admitting that he did something well. "Estela helped me study. She takes college seriously." In a lower voice, he added, "It's our only way out."

Talking with Winston had done nothing for keeping his expectations low, but Monty reminded himself that it was probably too late for him. He had gotten into too much trouble already in the past year alone. No recruiter in their right mind would offer him a football scholarship.

As Monty made his way to the locker room to join the guys, he saw them all huddled around Mr Bolan: a sweaty bunch of loud, pissed off kids screaming at the principal. Diego was yelling, "This is bullshit! He's being framed!" This had started to draw the attention of a lot of students, who were now coming in hordes to see what was going on. 

Confused, Monty saw three police officers around his locker. One of them was talking to Charlie. Another was putting an old cassette tape splattered with what looked like blood inside an evidence bag. 

An anonymous tip had been sent to the police just an hour ago, and based on the information, Mr Bolan had given them permission to search Monty's locker.

Officer Standall addressed him, "Montgomery de la Cruz, you're under arrest for the murder of Bryce Walker. You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can be used against you in a court of law. You have the right to talk to a lawyer, if you cannot afford a lawyer, one will be appointed for you..."

Monty hadn't even had time to fully comprehend what was happening before one of the other police officers violently put him in handcuffs, forcefully taking him away as the whole school watched.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **Author’s note:**  
>  *Hides behind laptop* Please don’t kill me. 🙈😅  
> The drama has begun. I’m always a little nervous when I have to publish a sad chapter, but as you may have noticed, I’m sticking to the show’s already existing storyline but making some changes to give Monty the story he deserves. That means I needed to include when the gang frames him. I’m excited for you all to see what happens next!


	8. Alibi

“Let’s try this again, Montgomery, for your own good. Where were you on the night of November 2nd, between 12 AM and 3 AM?” Officer Standall asked him. 

After they had found a cassette tape with Bryce’s blood on it inside of Monty’s locker, Charlie St. George had come forward to deny that Montgomery had been at his house on the night of Bryce’s murder. 

“I don’t have to tell you anything,” was Monty’s stubborn reply.

Mr de la Cruz, who was sitting next to Monty in the interrogation room, let out an exasperated sigh and raised his hand as if to strike him. The steel handcuffs around Monty’s wrists rattled metallically as he flinched, but Mr de la Cruz didn’t dare touch him in front of Officer Standall.

“You’re right, you don’t have to say a word. You’re in custody, and I read you your rights myself. But let _me_ tell you something. Look at me,” Monty, who had cast down his eyes, raised his gaze to meet Officer Standall’s, “The only chance you have for the prosecution to drop the charges is if you give us an airtight alibi. Believe me, I would love nothing more than to close this case. Bryce’s family is not to be trifled with, they’re powerful and they want the person responsible to be brought to justice as soon as possible. If they think they have enough and the charges are not dropped, they are going to make sure you are tried as an adult.” He spoke slowly and clearly, trying to make sure Monty understood the gravity of his situation. 

“Now, there’s very little about this case that makes sense,” he continued, “and I can imagine the mess that trial would be. The evidence is starting to get muddy. If you ask me, there’s a handful of kids who could’ve done it, and if I’m honest with you, I don’t think you’re one of them.”

Monty’s mouth dropped slightly. “You don’t?”

Officer Standall couldn’t tell Monty how there had been two sets of tire tracks near the pier where Bryce had been killed, and how one of them belonged to his wife’s car. He also didn’t say how the pictures of the footprints they took at the scene seemed to indicate there had been someone there who dragged one of his legs as he walked. Even though that alone wasn’t evidence strong enough for court, he was almost sure his son Alex had been on that pier around the time Bryce died. 

He had been relieved when the evidence had started to accumulate against Clay Jensen; he didn’t want to believe his son was a killer. But even then, something hadn’t felt right. And now that this tape had been found in Monty’s locker, everything had gotten much more puzzling. Without an alibi, that tape tied Monty undeniably to the scene of the crime, even if all the other flimsy pieces they had put together so far didn’t fit with Monty being the one responsible.

“No, I don’t. But you have to give me a solid alibi, Montgomery. Otherwise, there’s nothing I can do for you but wish you luck.” 

Monty was silent. “Talk, boy!” His father screamed at him. Monty flinched again, but still remained silent. 

“Alright. As you wish.” Officer Standall raised both of his hands in sign of defeat, starting to get up. “A good lawyer will probably be able to get you off, anyway.”

But Monty didn’t have the money to pay for a good lawyer. “Wait!”

Officer Standall stopped halfway to the door and looked back at him.

Monty clenched both his fists, closing his eyes tightly as he said, “I’ll talk.”

Officer Standall sat back down, putting his recorder on the table again. “I’m listening.”

“I was… at a friend’s house,” Officer Standall raised an eyebrow, “ _Not_ Charlie’s,” Monty said, guessing what he was thinking.

“What’s the name of this friend?”

Silence for a moment and then, “Winston Williams.”

“We’ll be contacting him to confirm your statement as well as his address. And you were there from 12 AM to 3 AM?”

“He was out the whole night. He didn’t come home,” Mr de la Cruz said before turning to Monty, “Who else was there? And why didn’t you say this before?” he demanded.

Monty’s first instinct was to lie, to start naming names and pretend that it had been just another night out with the guys. But Winston was now involved in this. The police would be contacting him, and any lie he told now would force Winston to lie for him, too.

“There was no one else there,” Monty admitted.

“You were just alone with him all night?” Mr de la Cruz asked him.

Monty said nothing. His face was expressionless as he kept his vacant eyes forward and away from his father. He could feel his cheeks getting warm as shame started to burn inside him.

His father looked like he had just realized something terrible. “Are you some kind of faggot?”

Monty’s shame turned easily and naturally to anger, and he turned his head to look into his father’s eyes. It took all of his courage to say, “What if I was, dad? What if I was?”

Mr de la Cruz frowned, uncharacteristically speechless, shock and incredulity plain on his face. Officer Standall thought it wise to end the interview as soon as possible.

“That is all we need from you for now, Montgomery,” he said as he started to get up again. “We’ll take you back to…”

“You should rot in jail,” Mr de la Cruz seemed to have recovered his speech, “I’m not going to lift a goddamn finger to get you out, you fucking good-for-nothing. I just hope they beat the shit out of you in there.”

“Yeah, well, at least none of them will be my dad,” Monty retorted.

Mr de la Cruz stood up, furious, and looked down at his son. “Are you a faggot?”

Monty swallowed, raising his gaze to meet his father’s. “Sure.”

The look of disgust in Mr de la Cruz’s face hurt Monty more than he thought it would, and he could feel his courage slipping away from him. His eyes burned as he fought away the tears, but he refused to look away. Anger left his body as suddenly as it had come, leaving him feeling only shame once again.

Then his father moved closer to him and spit on his face. Officer Standall immediately stood up and, calling out for Sheriff Díaz, they got Mr de la Cruz out of the room. 

Monty lost the last of his self-control and broke down in tears, sobbing as he tried to wipe away the spit as best as he could considering he was handcuffed. 

The police contacted Winston soon after that. Unlike what had happened with Charlie, not only did Winston confirm that Monty was with him that night, but he actually produced evidence to prove it. He had a time-stamped picture of a sleeping Monty from that night, and the Photos app in his own iPhone allowed the police officers to look at the picture’s geographical position on a map as well as the full address of the place where it was taken. Presented with this evidence, and after some deliberation, the prosecution decided to dismiss the charges.

Monty’s father was mercifully sober when he picked Monty off the morning he was released, but that didn’t mean that the ride home was easy. Mr de la Cruz struggled to grapple with the reality that he had a gay son, and he had half a mind to hire a prostitute to “cure” him.

“I bust my ass every day for this family, and this is what you do. You fucking embarass us like this, by turning into a fucking faggot. I wanted to throw you out of the house, but your mother wouldn’t stop crying,” Mr de la Cruz said, with as much disgust in his tone as he could muster. “You better not see that boy again or you’re both going to wish you had never been born.”

Monty made the mistake of turning his face towards the car window and away from his father, too ashamed to give him an answer.

“Say you understand, boy!” His father yelled at him.

“I understand,” Monty said quickly, wishing his father would just shut up about it. The fact that Estela and his mom knew everything by now was mortification enough. Monty had been exposed to toxic masculinity all his life. His family, especially on his father’s side, liked to ridicule anyone that didn’t meet their expectations of what a man should be, and now that everyone at home knew about him and Winston, he dreaded to know what they thought of him. Monty couldn’t bear to face them, and when he got home he hurried to lock himself in his room, without daring to look at his mother or at Estela.

The fact that they both could have supported him didn’t even cross his mind; so used was he to his father’s homophobic slurs and jokes. Thinking himself an embarrassment to his family was hurting him, and his father’s words on the way home had undone some of the progress he had made thanks to Winston. 

Winston had called him saying he wanted to see him, but Monty didn’t think that was wise right now. He told Winston that they should wait for things to calm down a bit, but deep down he knew his father wouldn’t let this go. He now had a permanent reason to beat Monty up every time he got drunk. Monty also didn’t think he could take the suspicious looks his mom or Estela would give him from now on every time he left the house, secretly wondering if he was off to “be with that boy.” Monty curled up in his small bed, haunted by these thoughts, wondering why his happiness had to be so at odds with everything his family believed in. As the day advanced, his mind went to darker and darker places, and by nightfall he was doubting he could ever be with Winston again.

Throughout the day, his mother had knocked twice on his door, first to bring him lunch, and then to bring him dinner. Both times Monty had ignored her, and now his stomach growled painfully. He felt almost sick with hunger and both mental and physical exhaustion. He hadn’t slept or eaten well in days. 

He heard a knock on the door, and for a horrible moment he thought it was his dad, drunk and ready to beat the gay out of him. But he said to himself that his dad wouldn’t knock gently like that, he would kick down the door. 

“Monty?” It was Estela. “Open up, you gotta eat something.”

No response from Monty.

Estela sighed and pulled out her phone to text him: “OPEN UP!!” She heard the sound of the notification arriving and texted again, “I heard that, I know you’re getting these. And I know you’re not sleeping. You must be starving, so open up.”

Monty: “Leave me alone. Maybe I’ll die and do everyone a favor.”

Estela: “Don’t be stupid. Open the damn door or I swear I’ll hunt this Winston Williams down and I will send him every embarrassing childhood picture of you I can get my hands on.”

As soon as he read that, Monty let his phone fall to his side as he covered his face with his hands, more embarrassed than ever. His phone buzzed again with another text notification.

Estela: “You know I’ll do it.”

Monty knew Estela wouldn’t go away, so he got up from the bed and reluctantly opened the door. He barely had a chance to look at Estela’s face before she threw her arms around him, hugging him as tightly as she could.

As Estela watched Monty eat some of the leftovers she had brought him, she said, “Funny how you have decided to lock yourself up here all day, you know, considering where you just were. If it were me that had just been released from jail, I would want to be outside as much as I could.”

“Yeah, well, you’re not an embarrassment to your family, so you wouldn’t understand,” Monty said as he chewed, talking with his mouth full.

“Oh, stop it. Since when do you listen to dad, anyway?”

Monty swallowed. “It’s not just dad.”

“Yes, it is. Mom doesn’t care as much as you would think. And I don’t care at all. I told you, I’m happy you got someone.”

Monty looked down and Estela asked him, “Have you even talked to him today? After he saved your ass?”

“He called me, but I think it’s best that we stay away from each other for a while.”

“What? You’re going to let dad do this to you?”

“He said he wanted to throw me out of the house.”

“Yeah, because he’s a dickhead. Nothing we didn’t know before,” Estela said as she rolled her eyes, “But mom didn’t let him. And neither did I. We love you.”

They were both trying hard not to cry, and to give herself something to do, Estela grabbed Monty’s empty plate to take it to the kitchen. “I’ll leave you alone, but if I were you, I would be sneaking out right about now to go show Winston just how grateful I was that he got my ass out of jail.”

That made Monty laugh in spite of himself and Estela winked at him before leaving his room. Monty’s phone buzzed a minute later.

Estela: “I expect you to introduce me as soon as possible.”

“Not gonna happen,” Monty texted back, with the tiniest most reluctant smile on his face.

He held his phone in his hand for a moment, closing his eyes and breathing deeply. The conversation with Estela had lifted his spirits somewhat, and the dark cloud that his father had left him with was starting to disappear.

Without thinking too much about it, he texted Winston: “Can I come over?”

Winston, less than 5 seconds later: “Yes.”

When Monty had told him they shouldn’t see each other for a while until things calmed down, Winston had been heartbroken. Now, he was mentally kicking himself for not having realized that Monty’s father would have gotten into his head now that he knew Monty was gay. He should have known that Monty asking him for some space didn’t have anything to do with him, and that Monty just needed support, someone to tell him everything was going to be okay regardless of his father’s small-minded and homophobic opinions.

They were currently spooning in Winston’s bed, deriving comfort from each other’s bodies. Winston loved how he always felt cuddled when he got into bed with Monty, how warm and protected Monty made him feel. Winston took one of Monty’s hands and kissed the knuckles, before interlacing their fingers lovingly.

“I’m sorry I got you into that mess. I wish there had been another way for me to get out of it,” Monty said, nuzzling Winston’s neck, as he often liked to do.

Winston pressed the back of Monty’s hand to his lips again, murmuring against it, “I would do anything for you.”

Monty started to kiss him anywhere he could reach: his neck, his head, his ear, his cheek. “I love you.”

Winston’s eyes widened. He had not been expecting that, and the shock of it made him fall silent for too long, so long that Monty thought Winston wouldn’t say it back.

“I love you, too,” Winston said finally, turning himself around towards Monty. He grabbed Monty’s face in his hands and pulled him in for a kiss. 

His father’s words had hurt him today, and he knew his home life could only get worse from now on, but Monty couldn’t deny it any longer: he loved Winston. His happiness was with Winston. He had thought the team was his family, but he had been wrong, Winston was. Winston was everything.

Even though Winston was all that really mattered to him, he had to admit that Charlie’s betrayal had hurt like hell. He hadn’t expected it from one of his guys. He knew that Clay or one of Clay’s friends had something to do with the tape that was found in his locker, but to what extent had Charlie been involved in that? Did Charlie help frame him? Monty found himself still not wanting to think the worst of him. They had been close, almost inseparable. But it was clear that he couldn’t trust him anymore.

Monty didn’t know that after Charlie had found out how he had been released due to an apparently solid alibi, he had been feeling guilty for letting himself doubt Monty. Charlie had no way of knowing what Monty’s real alibi was, or why he had wanted to keep it a secret, but he knew now that Monty didn’t kill Bryce, and that Alex and the others had been wrong about him. But the damage was done and Charlie couldn’t fathom how he could apologize for something like that, so after Monty returned to school they had just grown distant, their once close friendship completely ruined.

But one thing that Monty knew for certain was that it was somehow Clay’s fault that his family had found out he was gay. Clay and that nosy girl Ani, they had to be the ones that framed him, and somehow they used Charlie to do it. Understandably, Monty was furious, but Winston talked him down and reminded him of what Coach Kerba said before all of this happened. Monty thought it was absurd to expect any recruiter to approach him now that he had been involved in such a serious case, but he said nothing.

“Besides, you’re cleared now, and that’s all that matters. Whoever is guilty will eventually be caught,” Winston said, trying to persuade him not to take revenge on those kids and stay out of trouble for the sake of his future.

It was hard to let it go, but if Monty wanted to at least have a shot at a better life away from his father, he would have to swallow his anger and do it. 

Monty was right about his home life getting worse. The month of December was a nightmare. Most of the nights that Monty sneaked out to see Winston, he couldn’t spend the whole night with him because he had to get back home before his father noticed he was gone. Mr de la Cruz was getting more and more paranoid as the days passed. It got to the point where he briefly left work in the afternoons to make sure Monty went straight home from school.

The biggest scare Monty had was during one night in mid December. He had silently sneaked out to go to Winston’s house without anyone noticing, but halfway there he realized there was someone who seemed to be following him. He took sharp lefts and rights to make sure, and when the headlights were still following closely behind him, he pulled his phone out of his pocket and called Diego.

He knew Diego was going to make all kinds of annoying questions when they saw each other again on Monday, but he didn’t have Charlie anymore, so he was going to have to deal with that. 

“What the fuck, man, it’s one in the morning?” Diego said, his voice heavy with sleep.

“I need your help.”

Monty drove to Diego’s house and sure enough, Mr de la Cruz followed him there. Diego made up a bullshit story of having accidentally left his driver’s licence inside Monty’s school bag when they went out to have lunch that day, and how he needed it because he was going to drive himself to an early college interview he had in the morning.

“I know Monty would rather bring it to me now than wake up early on a Saturday, so that’s why I told him to come.”

Mr de la Cruz had looked extremely skeptical as he grabbed Monty by the arm and dragged him back to his car. Monty couldn’t escape the beating he got at home, but at least Winston was safe. Still, now he was constantly afraid that his father would follow him again, so the visits to Winston’s house got less frequent. His father hurting Winston was Monty’s worst fear, and he was extremely grateful that they both went to different schools, and lived in different parts of town.

By the end of December, the police had still yet to make any progress with the case of Bryce Walker, and it seemed like it would become one of those cases where the murky evidence doomed it to grow cold and remain open indefinitely. Whoever had killed Bryce seemed to have gotten away with it. 

Officer Standall tried his best to bury his growing suspicions against his son. There wasn’t enough evidence to know for sure, but it was hard to ignore what his gut was telling him. Was his sense of duty and justice strong enough to arrest his own son if it came down to it?

Just before the Fall semester ended, a kid named Brian Chu decided that hacking into the servers of Hillcrest High School was a good idea. Predictably, he got caught, and he decided to rat other people out in an attempt to save himself. The fact that Brian had illegally taken the SAT for Winston Williams came out. The consequences of this brought Winston’s world upside down. Suddenly, Princeton wasn’t an option anymore, to the horror of both of his parents. As if that wasn’t punishment enough, he also found himself expelled from Hillcrest halfway through his senior year.


	9. Welcome to Liberty

Ever since Winston could remember, his parents had consistently wanted one thing: for him to follow in their footsteps and graduate from Princeton. His father was very proud of their family's alma mater, and Winston going there had less to do with his own future and more to do with his father's ability to boast about their family legacy. 

Mr and Mrs Williams were smart, matter-of-fact people with very little time to spare and a fondness for their wealth and academic reputation. The only parental responsibility they seemed to take to heart was making sure their son always had the best of everything, and they were quite content with letting Winston do as he pleased as long as he didn't bother them too much. They were very open-minded, but not that affectionate, which meant they weren't very close to their son. Truth be told, love was one thing that was sorely missing from Winston's life... until he met Monty.

Monty was all he had now that he had lost his place at Princeton and the tiny crumbs of attention he had previously received from his parents. If he was honest, it was a kind of relief for him, to not have to live with the secret of having cheated on his SAT anymore, of pretending to be someone he was not and wasting his life by trying to be like his father. His family had the money and influence to send him to a decent enough school anyway, even if it couldn't be Princeton or another Ivy League, and he could study whatever he liked now that they had lost their interest in his future. He felt truly free from the burden of his parents' expectations, and now he would be able to dedicate his complete attention to what truly mattered to him: Monty.

Winston knew someone had tried to frame him, and he trusted Monty when he said that Clay Jensen and Ani Achola had to be behind it. Even though Winston told Monty not to seek revenge against them and stay out of any more trouble so as to not further jeopardize potential scholarships that may come his way, that didn't mean that Winston couldn't do a little investigation of his own. It wouldn't be too hard now that he had enrolled in Liberty for the last semester of his senior year. He didn't say so to Monty, but it made his blood boil to think they had dared to frame the boy he loved for murder. Someone needed to pay for that.

Winston had been walking on clouds ever since Monty told him he loved him. Although, his happiness had been a little damped by the fact that Monty's father was making it so difficult for them to see each other lately. Winston found it surprising that he didn't throw Monty out of the house when he found out Monty was gay, but he hadn't seen this obsessive vigilance coming. Because of this, he was excited to be transferring to Liberty. It meant he would see Monty every day.

But Winston wasn't a fool, nor was he kidding himself. It didn't matter that Monty's family knew about them, he knew that Monty wasn't ready to take their relationship public, yet. His father would kill him, or so Monty said.

"I told Estela to stay away from you," Monty told him a few days after he had found out that Winston would be transferring to Liberty. "I don't want to take any risks. You know how dad has been lately. He could pop up at school at any time and see you two together. I don't want to give him any excuse to come for you."

Winston wondered if protecting him from his father was all Monty was worried about, or if he was still ashamed of people finding out he was gay. Most likely both. 

"It's going to be hard for her. She really wants to meet you, for some reason," Monty said, sheepishly. Estela loved to tease him about Winston.

"Yeah, I really want to meet her, too."

Monty felt a pang of guilt at the sadness with which Winston said that. He tried to tell himself that there was nothing else they could do. They had to hide their relationship from his father at all costs. As far as the rest of the world was concerned, they were nothing to each other. 

That is why on the first day of school after Winter break, Winston and Monty arrived at Liberty separately. Monty went immediately to his friends, and Winston was left alone to find his own way in a strange new school.

Monty spent all morning trying to get Winston out of his mind, but during lunch hour, he realized just how hard it was going to be for him to ignore Winston every day at school.

He and his friends had decided to eat from the school cafeteria today, and they had sat down at one of the tables outside. It was a nice day, the sun was at its highest point but the nearby trees gave them shelter enough, and the winter breeze was gentle.

Monty was sitting next to Diego, and they were both laughing at Luke, who had been cocky enough to accept a dare to ask the head cheerleader out on a date, and had just gotten turned down epically. Between laughs, Diego said to Monty, "Oh, man. You don't know how much I missed you when those cops took you away. Roasting Luke alone just isn't the same." He threw an arm around Monty's shoulders, "I knew they would let you out, that tape in your locker was bullshit. As I keep telling you, Clay and that nosy friend of his had to be behind it, everyone knows it."

Luke nodded his agreement to that last part, and Monty was about to answer when he saw Winston coming out of the cafeteria. As soon as Winston noticed Monty and his friends, he hurried to sit down at a table far from theirs.

"Yeah, exactly," Monty said, distractedly.

"I mean, I'm not saying you haven't been a bit secretive the last few months," Diego said suggestively, with the hint of a smile, "but we all know what that's about."

"You do?" An irrational panic was taking hold of Monty. "I mean, what the hell do you mean by that?"

Diego laughed, and Luke said, "That you've got a girl somewhere that you're not telling us about, of course."

"But, hey, if you don't want to tell us who she is, we respect that. Keep it on the down low, that's fine," Diego added.

"Yeah, let's not judge him, Diego. Maybe she's not relationship material. Or maybe she's got buck teeth, and he doesn't want us to know."

"You know what, that's probably it. You gotta stop being so shallow, man. She clearly makes you happy."

Both Diego and Luke burst out laughing at their own silly jokes as Monty rolled his eyes. "Ha, ha. Very funny."

"But seriously now, we knew there was no way you killed Bryce," Diego's eyes focused on a point behind Monty's back, and when Monty turned his head, he saw Charlie coming in their direction, "most of us, anyway."

"He's not seriously coming here to sit with us, is he? He should know better by now," Luke said.

"He's still part of the team, though," Monty said, but he was frowning. He still couldn't believe Charlie had betrayed him like that.

"Part of the team, my ass. He's been hanging out with Clay Jensen and Alex Standall, he can sit with them. It was probably because of them that he snitched about you not being at his house on Homecoming night," Diego whispered, as Charlie was now almost within earshot.

The guys hadn't taken Charlie's betrayal lightly. You couldn't betray one of your own and expect things to remain the same. Trust was everything in a team, and Charlie had shown he couldn't be trusted. 

"Hey," Charlie said. Ever since Monty had gotten out of jail, Charlie had tried to find ways to express how sorry he was, without actually managing to gather up the courage to pull Monty aside and say it. He shouldn't have assumed the worst just because Alex did. Alex wasn't Monty's friend, he had been, and he should have known better than to lose his trust in Monty so easily. No one knew why that tape had been in Monty's locker or what his real alibi was, but the cops must have thought his alibi was solid enough to let him out, and that was enough for Charlie. The problem was that he had not only lost Monty, but now the whole team treated him like a stranger. They had to tolerate him because he was still part of the team, but their interactions had gotten awkward, if not downright confrontational. 

No one had acknowledged his greeting. He hesitated, wanting to sit with them but not wanting to bother them. 

Monty was having an internal battle, too. Charlie had been one of his best friends, and a part of him wanted to tell him to sit down with them, but his pride was telling him otherwise.

Diego, seeing Charlie's hesitation, said, "Why would you even want to sit here, man?" 

"You guys are my friends. I've missed hanging out with you like we used to"

Diego raised an eyebrow, "Do friends betray each other? Besides, it seems you've made some new friends. Why don't you go sit with them? Or did they tell you to sit with us today? Maybe they're trying to figure out which one of us to frame next, since their plan to frame Monty failed."

"What?" Charlie's incredulity was plain on his face. "Don't be ridiculous. They were just trying to h... they're not like that."

"Oh, now I'm ridiculous?"

"Diego, enough. Just let him sit, that's fine," Monty intervened before things got out of hand, "We gotta talk football, anyway."

Charlie sat down, and tried to turn the conversation towards their game strategy as Monty had suggested. Little by little, the awkward and hostile atmosphere lessened somewhat, and it was almost like old times. Almost, but not quite. Estela came by a few minutes later and her cheery personality and bright smile helped put everyone in a better mood. She soon sat playfully on Diego's lap, and they were kissing and looking at each other as if there were no other people around them; passionately, and completely free.

Monty looked to his right side towards Winston from time to time. He was eating his lunch alone, and the fact that he couldn't go to him and keep him company was killing Monty. Looking at Diego and Estela, Monty was forced to admit to himself just how badly he was failing Winston. His sister's relationship with Diego was a healthy one. They loved each other openly, and they weren't afraid of anything. He would never be able to give that to Winston.

Monty already knew Winston deserved better than him, but he was now seeing with his own eyes what Winston was missing out on because of him. What kind of life would Winston have with him? They couldn't even see each other as often as they used to, now that his father was watching him like a hawk. He just couldn't sneak out as often. He realized he was condemning Winston to lonely lunches and infrequent secret encounters, when Winston actually deserved the world. 

Feeling terrible, Monty pulled out his phone and texted Winston: "I'm sorry. I wish I was sitting next to you right now. I promise I'll make it up to you tonight."

Winston felt the text notification arrive, and Monty loved the smile on his face as he read the text. Winston replied back, "You better."

But throughout the day, Monty couldn't get the image of Winston eating alone out of his mind. He hated himself for being such a coward. How could he care more about what his dad thought (and about what everyone at school thought) than about Winston's feelings? He thought there must be something wrong with him, that all the shame and anger and bullshit he had inside him because of the way he had been brought up had fucked him up so bad that now he couldn't love someone properly.

That day, after getting home from school, Monty waited anxiously for nightfall. But as night came, it looked like his hopes were going to be crushed. His father was drinking tonight. Mr de la Cruz was unpleasant and rude when he was sober, but when he was drunk he became a true monster. A sober Mr de la Cruz could spit on his face and call him a disgrace to the family, probably hurting him more than if he had drawn blood, but a drunk Mr de la Cruz could easily beat him into a coma. 

Monty could hear the loud TV from his room. The best thing to do would be to stay locked in there, out of his father's sight, until his father drank himself into unconsciousness. He texted Winston this and told him he would text him again when he was on his way, but after three hours passed and he still heard footsteps in the living room and the clink of the beers knocking against each other as his father clumsily grabbed another one, he was losing hope of being able to sneak out that night. 

Monty had put his phone in silent mode, trying to make as less noise as possible, and as a result he almost didn't pick up when Winston called him.

"Hey," Monty whispered.

"Hey, are you on your way?"

It was very late already, and Monty could hear a trace of sleepiness in Winston's voice. And they had school in a few hours.

"I don't think I'm going to be able to come over tonight."

"Oh." 

Winston's disappointment stirred a wave of self-hatred in Monty. He hated himself, and he hated his father. 

"He's been at it for hours and doesn't seem likely that he'll stop soon. And I know you're tired. Just try to get some sleep. I'm sorry I kept you waiting for nothing."

"That's okay, I'll see you tomorrow."

Monty couldn't coherently explain why, but hearing that made him burst into tears. Yes, they would see each other tomorrow, but from a distance, unable to touch each other, to look into each other's eyes, to talk even. How could you love someone so much and still not be strong enough to do it properly?

"What's wrong?" Winston asked, alarmed.

"It's just... I miss you. And I hate myself for being such a fucking coward."

"I miss you, too. But take it easy, okay? Don't say that about yourself. You can come over another night. It's okay."

"No, it's not okay. You don't deserve this." 

Winston was struggling to find the right words to say. He could see where this was going, and his brain, unable to come up with a way to stop it, was completely blank with fear. 

"I don't think we should see each other any more," Monty whispered.

There it was. "Monty, don't do this. Nothing needs to change."

"You need someone who's not afraid to love you, Winston. I can't even talk to you in public. I'm worthless. I should have walked away from your life a long time ago, if I wasn't so fucking selfish," Monty said brokenly, in between sobs.

"Don't say that, you don't mean that."

"I do. I mean it. It's over." Monty's heart was broken but he tried to tell himself that for the first time in his life he was doing the right thing. He was being selfless, doing what was best for the person he loved, even if that meant sacrificing his own happiness. He truly thought Winston would be better off without him. He was convinced that his family would never really accept him. Even though Estela had told him that him being gay wasn't that big of a deal for their mom as he thought it would be, getting spit on your face by your father is something you don't forget.

"Are you seriously doing this? Over the phone?" 

"That should tell you what a piece of shit I am," Monty said, tears still streaming down his face.

"I love you. Don't do this."

"You deserve better than me."

"I don't care what I deserve! I want you," Winston said desperately.

That almost broke Monty's resolution. This was the hardest thing he had ever had to do, and if he didn't hang up now, he wouldn't be able to go through with it.

"Good bye, Winston."

Winston heard the unmistakable and terrible sound of Monty hanging up, and he immediately called him back. He gave up after calling four times. Monty wasn't picking up. Winston threw himself on the bed, face down, and started to cry. There are no words that can accurately describe how it feels to lose the one you love. The brain can't take that pain and put it into words. All you can do is feel it, and cry until you feel better or until you fall asleep. For Winston, it was the latter. 

He woke up the next morning with an aching pressure on his chest. His first thought was to check his phone, in case Monty had texted or called. But there was nothing. He took a deep breath and tried to get himself under enough control to get ready for school. He had lost so much in such a short amount of time. He had lost the future his parents had planned for him, and even if he was a bit glad about that, he still couldn't help feeling kind of lost, like his life lacked direction now, or purpose. He had lost the little attention he had previously received from his parents; they hardly talked to him now. And now he had lost Monty, the first and only boy he had ever loved. He had no one.

As he walked through the halls of Liberty that day, he felt more alone than ever. He went to all his classes, ate lunch alone again, and the day passed without him uttering a single word. It was as if he didn't exist. 

After school was over, he hung around in the yearbook classroom, looking at Tyler Down's work for the previous years to get a sense of his formatting and style. Tyler was the first person he had talked to that day. 

"Let me know if you have any questions. I pretty much worked on these alone, I'm glad to have someone working with me this semester," Tyler was saying, "Anyway, I'm gonna head out. You okay locking up when you're done?"

"Sure. Thanks again."

"No problem."

After Tyler closed the door behind him, Winston could hear muffled voices outside, as if Tyler had run into someone just as he was getting out of the classroom. A moment later, Winston heard the door open, and he turned his head to see a boy entering.

"Hey, you're the new kid, right? I heard you used to go to Hillcrest," the boy said as he walked towards him.

"Yeah, I'm Winston," he said, extending a hand.

The boy leaned against the table to support his weight as he let go of his cane to shake Winston's hand. "Alex," the boy said, and smiled. 

Winston smiled back as Alex sat down next to him.


	10. Jealousy

After breaking up with Winston and losing the only thing that mattered to him, Monty had regressed to a version of his old self. He was meaner than he had been in the last seven months, as his suffering had made him go back to his old bully persona. Coach Kerba had already had a few words with him, and Mr Bolan looked like he had half a mind to forbid him from going on the tour of Sanderson University that was happening today.

Monty could see Diego and Luke at the back of the bus as he got on it, and even though he tried to keep his eyes focused on his friends, he still couldn't keep his gaze from drifting towards Winston, who was sitting close to the front next to Tyler. 

Their eyes locked for the briefest of seconds before Monty tore his eyes away and kept walking further down the bus. Charlie was sitting next to Alex halfway down, and he gave Monty a small, almost apologetic smile. 

Winston's eyes longingly followed Monty until he sat down next to Diego. Before Monty could realize he was still looking at him, Winston turned his head forward again, too quickly to see Alex looking intently at him, trying to catch his eye. 

Alex was in a terrible mood. He had hoped to sit next to Winston today, but Charlie hadn't left him alone for a second that morning. He was being extra sweet; he offered him homemade cookies and had even made a playlist on Spotify for them to listen to on the way over. The worst part was that Charlie didn't even need to be there. He wasn't a senior so he wasn't thinking about which college to apply to yet, but he had wanted to go on the tour just to keep Alex company, and to help him out if he needed help, as this was the first time Alex left home without his cane. This made it harder for Alex to be visibly annoyed at him.

Charlie, on the other hand, was being his usual cheery self, but he could tell something was wrong with Alex and he didn't know what it was or how to fix it.

Mr Bolan entered the bus at that moment to do a head count and tell everyone a little bit about the tour. Apparently, Clay Jensen's father was the head of the Literature Department there. That fact made Sanderson University less appealing in Monty's eyes, in addition to it being so close to home. This was his safety school because it was free for residents, but if he had any say in the matter, he would go as far away from home as possible.

"So, I need everyone to be on their best behavior," Mr Bolan was saying. He fixed his gaze towards the back of the bus as he added, "and I'm looking at you, Montgomery de la Cruz."

Diego and Luke chuckled, and Monty couldn't suppress a smug smile as he saw Winston looking back at him with a smile of his own. Winston knew he shouldn't encourage Monty to misbehave but at the same time he couldn't deny that he was a bit attracted to his bad boy side. Everything about Monty attracted him.

The trip to Sanderson University was a short one, and soon they all found themselves standing in the middle of the vast campus. The tour guides separated the Liberty High students into two groups; Monty, Diego, Winston, Tyler, and Alex (who had managed to sneak away from Charlie) ended up in one group while Luke and Charlie ended up in the other. Both groups would tour the school separately before meeting up again in a designated spot.

Winston and Tyler were walking close behind the animated tour guide, and Alex was trying to catch up to them. Without his cane, and without Charlie to support him, it was a bit of a feat. 

"Hey," Alex said, catching up to them almost breathless. Monty, a few feet behind them, wondered what the hell was Alex doing talking to Winston. 

"Hey," both Tyler and Winston said. 

"Where's your cane?" Tyled asked.

"I'm trying to force myself to get rid of it. I'm working hard on my physical therapy and lately I feel like it has really helped," but as Alex said that, he stumbled and had to grab onto Winston to prevent himself from falling down. 

"Easy, there," said Winston as he let Alex lean on him for a moment until he regained his balance. "You good?"

"Yeah, sorry about that. Spoke too soon, I guess," Alex said, and Winston chuckled despite himself.

"No, you're doing good."

Monty had seen that whole scene and was secretly seething, unable to pay attention to whatever it was that Diego was telling him. He realized just how used he had gotten to Winston being his, so much so that the thought of someone else touching him hadn't even been allowed to enter into his mind. But it was on his mind now, making him see red with what he thought was anger. But what he was actually feeling had another name: burning jealousy. The fact that Tyler left Winston alone with Alex to go take pictures of buildings made Monty's mood get worse and worse throughout the day, and so did his mean attitude. He was even snapping at Diego by the time the tour was over.

"Man, did you wake up on the wrong side of the bed today," Diego said as they followed the tour guide to the spot where they were supposed to meet the other group again when the tour was over. The other group hadn't arrived yet, so they all spread around to explore their surroundings as they waited.

Alex was tired of walking and he asked Winston to sit on a nearby bench with him. The bench was in a high spot, so sitting there they could see a large portion of the side of campus they had just toured. 

Alex looked relieved to be finally sitting down. "I'm sorry you got stuck with a cripple on this tour. It must have been annoying."

"Not at all," Winston rushed to say.

"So you admit you think I'm a cripple?"

"No! That's not what I—"

"I'm just messing with you," Alex said, smiling and shaking his head.

Winston laughed. "That was mean."

After a pause, Winston asked, "So, what happened to you? If it's okay for me to ask."

Alex looked down and said, "I... tried to kill myself last year. I guess when you're suicidal, you never factor in the chance that you might fail and end up with a life worse than the one you were trying to escape from."

"Shit, I'm sorry."

"No, I'm the one who's sorry. I didn't mean to darken the mood. I don't usually talk about it."

"You should. You should talk about it," Winston said earnestly, feeling a bit touched that Alex had shared something so important and private with him. Alex smiled at him. 

The other group was finally starting to arrive at their designated meeting spot. Luke and Charlie were now walking towards Monty and Diego. Luke had tried his hardest to stay mad at Charlie for what he did to Monty, but he had been stuck with him on the tour and therefore had to spend most of the day with him. Charlie's bright manner and delicious granola cookies were starting to get through his defences.

"Look, you have to give him time. You guys were really close and you ratted him out to the police, man. You don't do that to a brother," Luke was saying while they were still out of earshot from Diego and Monty.

Charlie's head was cast down. "I know, I really screwed up. And I know how mad he is. I'm afraid that once I pluck up the courage to apologize to him he'll not forgive me."

Luke patted his back and grabbed the nape of his neck in a reassuring gesture before letting him go as they reunited with Diego and Monty. 

Monty was still looking at Winston and Alex, and when he saw Alex put his arm around Winston's shoulders to hoist himself up from the bench, he couldn't keep quiet about it any longer. He had to say something or he would burst. 

"I think Alex's a fucking homo," Monty said suddenly, with as much disgust as he could muster, while thinking to himself how much he would like to beat Alex into a pulp. _He's not gonna need his cane back after I'm through with him, he's gonna need a fucking wheelchair._

Diego looked taken aback by that comment. "Why do you say so? I think he used to date Jessica, remember?"

"That doesn't mean he can't be into boys. He could be bisexual," Charlie suggested shyly.

"Well, he's gay for the new kid, at least," Monty said, and they all looked at Alex and Winston walking together and talking. Charlie looked upset.

Diego shrugged. "I couldn't care less if he is. I don't hate on gays. It's true that I don't like him. He's a little shit, but it's not because of his sexuality."

Charlie repressed the urge to hug Diego and settled instead for a small smile and a nod. It was the first time someone from the team had expressed any kind of support for gay people.

Monty looked at Diego with a curious expression on his face, as if trying to decipher whether Diego was being serious, or whether a joke was coming. But when no one disagreed with Diego and the conversation flowed away from that topic, Monty grew pensive. How would Diego and the guys react to one of them being gay? It was all well and good to say you don't hate on gays when you're talking about someone you don't give two shits about. But what if it was one of your guys? Would Diego be as accepting?

"Monty. Hey, Monty." Diego snapped him out of his thoughts. "What's up with you, man? You've been so weird today. Lets go, people are starting to get on the bus."

On the bus, Monty sat down next to Diego again, and Charlie next to Luke. They both had no choice but to watch the people they loved sitting next to each other, talking and laughing the whole way to school.

That night, as Monty tried and failed to fall asleep, he thought about his decision to break up with Winston. He knew it had been the right choice. They loved each other, and it hurt like hell, but he wasn't good enough for Winston. It burned him up inside than even a scrawny fuckhead like Alex could give him a better relationship than he could. At least Alex wasn't afraid to be seen with him. As he twisted and turned in his bed, Monty couldn't get the image of them together out of his mind. What if they got together? Did Winston like him?

Breathing deeply and against his better judgement, he picked up his phone and called Winston.

"Hello?" Came Winston's sleepy reply. He had been asleep and picked up without even noticing who had called.

"Hey."

Hearing Monty's voice was all it took for Winston's brain to snap awake. He sat up in his bed so fast that he almost dropped his phone. 

"I know I shouldn't be calling you..." Monty said.

"No, I mean, I'm glad you did."

Monty fell silent in his embarrassment as he struggled to put into words what he wanted to ask.

"I've been thinking about you a lot. I miss you," Winston said when Monty didn't say anything.

"You seemed fine today. You were laughing a lot," Monty's tone clued Winston in on why Monty had called, and he couldn't repress the grin that broke into his face. Monty was jealous.

"I guess I was."

"So, are you two like, together now?" The question just burst out of Monty without his permission. He had meant to be more subtle, but he just couldn't take it anymore, not knowing. 

"What? Of course not!"

"You know he's close to Clay and Ani, right? The people who I'm pretty sure tried to frame me for murder."

"He's just a friend. One of the very few I've managed to make at Liberty. I don't think he's even gay." It was true. Winston hadn't made many friends at Liberty, and now that Monty had broken up with him, he was extremely lonely. He couldn't afford to push people away, but the fact that Alex was close to Clay and Ani hadn't escaped him, and he thought he could use that to try to find proof that they framed Monty, and more importantly, why they did it.

"He was touching you a lot," Monty said that very seriously, as if he was presenting Winston with very solid accusatory evidence of cheating, even if they were technically not together anymore, and that made Winston laugh, "What's so funny about it? I shouldn't have called. Goodbye."

"No! I'm sorry. Don't hang up. He was just having a bit of trouble walking without his cane."

"Well, maybe he should have brought it."

"Yeah, he really should have. It got kind of annoying after a while."

That seemed to please Monty. "So, you really don't like him?"

"Just as a friend. And even as that, he can be a little annoying, as we have established," Winston reassured him with a smile on his face. He knew Monty still loved him even though he had ended the relationship, and to have him call in the middle of the night because he was jealous gave Winston hope.

Monty felt as if a huge weight had been lifted off his chest. He felt his mood improve and his body relax. Now that he was talking to Winston, he couldn't seem to be able to stop, and they kept talking into the night until they both fell asleep. 

The next day at school, there were pink-colored posters plastered everywhere with the words "Love Is Love" on them. Excitement was in the air, and everyone was talking about Valentine's Day, either wondering who to take to the dance or who was going to ask them.

"So, Diego is obviously going to take Estela, unless he's starting to warm up to Jessica?" Luke teased Diego.

"Dude, don't even joke about that. I'm crazy about Estela."

"That's what I like to hear," Monty said, "Don't make me have to beat your ass, Torres."

"But what about you, Monty? You gonna take your mystery girl?" Luke asked.

"I'm not going."

"Are you serious?"

"Yeah, I'm just not in the mood for a stupid dance."

"Well, I do want to go, but I don't know who I'm going to take yet."

"What you mean to say is that no one has said yes to you, yet," Diego said, and Monty laughed. "You know what your problem is? You're shooting way too high, man. A funny-looking guy like you needs to lower his standards."

"Shut up," Luke said, but he was smiling, too. "Hey, Charlie! You coming?" Luke had spotted Charlie talking to Alex across the hall. At Luke's yell, they both turned to look.

"Yeah, I'll be right there," Charlie yelled back. When Charlie had found out about the dance, he hadn't wanted to lose a minute. He had spent too much time being shy and subtle, and after the college tour he was beginning to fear it was too late for him. It was time to face his fears and go after what he wanted.

"So, anyway, about that dance," Charlie continued, looking back at Alex, "I was wondering if you would like to go with me? You know, as my date." Charlie's cheeks turned as pink as the posters around them.

"Oh," Alex hesitated. If he was honest with himself, he truly did like Charlie. He had since last year. But they had never done anything about it, and now he found himself very attracted to someone else. "Uh, to be honest, I don't think I'm up for it. I mean, what's a lame kid like me going to do at a dance? Spend the whole night sitting down?"

"Come on, don't say that. I promise we'll have a lot of fun," Charlie said. He made as if to take Alex's hand, and Alex took a step away from him.

"Charlie, I'm not even sure I'm into boys," he lied. 

"I don't believe that," Charlie said, his expression slowly turning incredibly sad as comprehension started to dawn. Alex just didn't want to go with him.

"I'm sorry," Alex said, and walked away, leaving Charlie alone and broken-hearted.

Morning slowly turned into afternoon, and as Monty was rummaging in his locker for the textbook he needed for his last class, he heard Winston's voice from somewhere on his left.

"Yeah, high school dances can be pretty stupid. I still have to be there, though. Remember, I'm a yearbook guy," Winston said as he grabbed his Nikon for emphasis.

"Oh, yeah, right. Well, it could be entertaining to go and observe these morons in their natural habitat. You know, for social commentary purposes," Alex said, making Winston laugh.

"I guess."

"I could go with you. I mean... as friends," Alex said sheepishly.

"Uhm, yeah, sure, as friends." 

At that precise moment they heard a loud bang, like a locker door being closed violently, and Winston looked back just in time to see Monty disappear through the door of a classroom, furious.

Monty couldn't concentrate on his last class of the day at all. He was struggling to get his hatred of Alex under control, and he was now absolutely sure he would be going to that stupid dance, even if he would have to go alone.

When the night of the dance arrived, Monty scanned the venue looking for Winston. He didn't find him at first glance, but he did spot Diego and Estela, so he made his way to them. Estela looked at him knowingly when she saw him alone. He had told her how he had broken up with Winston, and had to listen to her scolding him for half an hour. She couldn't understand what he was feeling. She was normal, he thought, free to love whomever she wanted. Love did not require courage in her case.

Luke arrived shortly after with some girl from another school, and then Charlie, who arrived alone, just like Monty. The couples soon rushed to the dance floor, and Monty and Charlie were left by themselves in their sad little table. 

"Hey, man. I've been wanting to talk to you for some time—" Charlie began, but he was cut off as Diego's outraged voice carried all the way from the dance floor and over the loud music.

"WHAT THE FUCK IS WRONG WITH YOU?"

Jessica had once again made a desperate attempt to approach Diego just to mess with Justin Foley's head. Estela looked livid, and Jessica's haughtiness faltered when she realized everyone was looking at her. Justin had walked away. Winston and Alex had just arrived.

"Chill out, Diego. God," Jessica said, trying to dismiss the whole thing.

"No, I've had it with you. I told you I'm with Estela. Why can't you respect that? Maybe you should be asking yourself why Foley doesn't want to be near you anymore. What did you do that was so fucked up he can't even stand to look at you?"

A suspicion began to grow in Winston's mind at those words. What had she done? Wasn't the tape that was found in Monty's locker meant for her? What if Bryce had given it to her before he died? What if she had been the one to kill Bryce? That could explain why Justin wanted nothing to do with her.

Jessica stared daggers at Diego before lifting up her chin and walking away. 

Charlie was so shocked by that scene that he forgot he had been in the middle of telling Monty something. Monty forgot, too, and he stood up, shaking his head at Jessica's stupidity, and went to get some sodas. 

When Monty was making his way back to his table, he noticed Alex getting way too close to Winston. They were standing near the dance floor, and Winston was trying to take some pictures of everyone dancing. When Winston lowered his camera and looked towards Alex, Alex moved suddenly towards him, crashing their lips together unexpectedly. Winston's shock at the stolen kiss paralized him for a few seconds before he pushed Alex away. 

Monty's anger and jealousy made him see red. His mind was completely unable to come up with one rational thought as he left the two sodas he had been carrying on a table that wasn't even his, and made his way through the crowded dance floor towards Alex and Winston. What was he going to do? He didn't know. All he knew was that his anger was in control right now. His mind was playing that kiss on replay and he was getting angrier by the second. 

Monty was soon near enough to hear their voices.

"I'm sorry, I—" Alex was saying before he was cut off by someone bumping painfully into him. The force of it almost made him fall down. 

"Look where you're going, you freak," Monty spat at him. 

"I wasn't even walking, you asshole!" Alex said, regaining his balance for long enough to push Monty as hard as he could.

This was what Monty had been hoping for. The perfect excuse to do what he wanted to do since the college tour. Making his right hand into a fist before letting the full weight of his body push his arm forward, he aimed his fist towards Alex's mouth. The force of the punch made Alex go down with almost comical ease, and Winston had to put himself between them to prevent Monty from completely destroying Alex's face. Monty tried to get around Winston to continue beating Alex up, but he was soon grabbed by security officials, who forcefully escorted him out of the venue. 

Winston followed them, and after a few seconds, Alex, his lip bleeding badly, followed, too. But before Alex could reach Winston, he was stopped by a worried Charlie, who had watched him kiss Winston and then get punched by Monty. Even though Alex had rejected him and had gone to the dance with another boy, Charlie still had to make sure Alex was okay. 

Winston threw the doors of the venue open and ran out into the night after Monty, who was walking towards his car with both of his fists clenched. "Monty, wait!" Winston grabbed him by his sleeve and tried to turn him around but Monty shook him off. 

"Shouldn't you be with your boyfriend?" Monty said angrily.

"Would you stop? I told you it's not like that!"

"Leave me alone," Monty said, and continued walking towards his car.

Winston was on the verge of tears. "You were the one who pushed me away!"

Monty stopped walking but kept his back turned on Winston. 

"You once said you wouldn't let me push you away. Remember? Back in Palm Springs," Monty said in what was almost a whisper.

"That's not fair," Winston said, hurt.

Monty knew he was right, that wasn't fair. But he was mad. He couldn't get the image of Alex kissing Winston out of his head. He kept his back turned, refusing to look at Winston. 

Winston could see the tension on Monty's shoulders and wished he could just reach out and make it go away. He saw one of Monty's clenched fists reach up to brush his eyes before the tears that were threatening to fall could do so. 

"What do you want me to do?" Winston whispered desperately. "I'll do anything you want. You know I would choose you over anyone else." He walked towards him and tentatively wrapped his arms around Monty from behind, pressing the side of his face to Monty's back.

Monty finally turned to face him. "You would choose me over him?"

"A million times," Winston smiled, "He doesn't have a chance against you." The fact that Monty was jealous of Alex was unbelievable to Winston. Alex was nothing next to him.

Looking around to make sure no one was watching them, Monty grabbed Winston's hand and kissed it. He smiled and pulled Winston in the direction of their cars, still holding his hand. Monty's car followed Winston's out of the parking lot all the way to Winston's house.

When Alex finally made it out of the venue, with Charlie at his heels, he didn't see Winston or Monty anywhere. Narrowing his eyes suspiciously, he noticed their cars were also gone. Charlie noticed the same and was also swiftly connecting the dots.

Alex had experienced constant panic attacks, in addition to horrible nightmares, ever since that night at the pier, when he had pushed Bryce Walker to his death. But all of this had subsided ever since he met Winston. Winston made him happy in a way he had never been before, and he now hated Montgomery even more for taking him away. He couldn't afford to lose Winston, and he was prepared to do anything to get him back.


	11. Senior Camping Trip

"Winston," Monty motioned to him with a lazy hand, "these are Diego, Charlie, and the blonde one you see trying to sneak food out of Kenneth's tent is Luke," he continued, saying names and pointing to the people the names belonged to until Winston was introduced to almost all the football team. Monty's voice was casual, but inside he was more nervous than he had ever remembered being before.

Now that they were together again, Monty had decided he couldn't keep ignoring Winston at school. Ignoring Winston made him feel terrible and it was the reason they had broken up in the first place. If they were going to be together, Monty would try as hard as he could, as hard as his own insecurities and fears would allow, to do right by Winston. He knew that introducing Winston to the guys as a friend was not quite enough, but it was a start. It was better than letting Winston eat his lunches alone or much worse, with Alex. 

His father still concerned him, of course. And the times he let himself really think about it he grew overwhelmed and anxious. His father realizing he was hanging out with Winston at school seemed to him the worst thing that could ever happen, but he had no choice but to take the risk, and protect Winston to the best of his ability if it came down to it. He wasn't going to push Winston away again. 

It was a clear, crisp morning in Burnham Woods, where they had just arrived for the senior camping trip. Monty didn't even know how Charlie had managed to convince Principal Bolan to let him come even though he wasn't a senior. But then again, athletes often got away with a lot of stuff.

"Hey, man. Nice to meet you," Diego was the first one to talk. Suddenly his expression changed to one of recognition, and he said, "weren't you at Bryce's funeral? I think I remember seeing you there. Were you friends with Bryce?"

Count on Diego to remember stuff like that, Monty thought, slightly panicking. Winston had gone to Bryce's funeral just to give Monty moral support, but Bryce and him had had no relationship at all beyond going to the same school and knowing each other's names.

Winston, however, looked perfectly at ease, and he replied, "Yeah, not really. We talked a few times at school, when we were both at Hillcrest," he lied, "I didn't know him very well but I still wanted to pay my respects."

Diego liked that, and he nodded, smiling at Winston. "You seem like a good guy."

Winston noticed that Charlie was looking at him curiously. He didn't know that Charlie had been the only one of them to see him running after Monty on the night of the Valentine's dance. He didn't know that Charlie suspected that there might be something going on between them. Winston cocked his head, confused, but before he had time to say something to Charlie, Luke addressed him.

"So, how do you know Monty?"

"Oh, I remembered having seen him with Bryce at a couple of Hillcrest parties last year, so I just introduced myself a few days ago," Winston lied again, "It's kind of lonely, being the new kid."

Monty's body was tensing and relaxing with each question the guys asked Winston and with each answer they got in return. Winston was handling all of this very well. It was as if he had been prepared for this moment for a long time.

"So, who's going to bunk with who?" Monty asked, more to stop the guys from asking Winston even more questions than anything else.

"Diego doesn't have anyone yet, but I'm with Charlie," said Luke, pointing to an apricot-colored tent with a grey porch that was nearby. 

Before Diego could claim Monty as his bunk partner, Winston said, "Monty and I are bunking together."

It took all of Monty's strength to control his expression and not betray his shock, but he couldn't help throwing Winston a look. Monty had told him to be subtle, and bunking together was definitely not subtle at all. 

But Monty had to conclude that his paranoia was unfounded. No one seemed to find it weird. Charlie even seemed a little bit too supportive. Monty didn't know that Charlie was thinking about how Alex couldn't bunk with Winston if Winston bunked with Monty.

The conversation continued to flow until it ended naturally as Luke and Charlie walked to their tent to continue putting their things inside and as Diego moved away from them when he got a call from Estela, who was sad that she couldn't come. 

Monty and Winston started to work on putting up their tent. Neither of them had done it before as this was their first time camping. They were both surprised to find that it was not as easy as they had thought, but they were having fun. It felt good to be around each other in public like that. Winston could almost feel what it would be like to not be a secret.

"That went well," Winston whispered to Monty, "right?"

Monty couldn't repress the small smile that escaped him. "Yeah, they seem to like you."

"Especially Diego."

"Yes, he liked the fact that you went to Bryce's funeral. He probably thinks you're loyal and respects you for it."

Winston fell silent for a moment, seemingly lost in thought. "At the Valentine's dance, he said something about Jessica that got me thinking. He implied she must have done something terrible for Justin to stop talking to her." A pause. "She seems to be close to Ani and Clay. Do you think she could have been involved in Bryce's death? She could have been the one to frame you. That tape was meant for her, after all."

"I wouldn't put it past her. But Clay and Ani have a lot of friends. If we go by that logic, your ex boyfriend Alex should be a suspect too."

Winston let out a sigh of frustration. Monty was never going to let him live that down. But when he looked up, Monty was grinning. He reached out and pinched one of Winston's cheeks playfully before looking everywhere around him to make sure no one had seen him.

Putting Monty's bias aside, Winston didn't think Alex had anything to do with Bryce's murder. He just didn't think Alex was capable of something like that, but he kept his thoughts to himself. Jessica, on the other hand, seemed like the perfect suspect to him. From what Monty had told him, no one could have wanted Bryce dead more than Jessica Davis. Bryce had ruined her life, and now Justin wouldn't even look at her in the face. What had happened? 

Without meaning to, Winston's eyes fixated on Justin, who was a few tents away, almost on the other side of the clearing. Staring at him, Winston wondered if his imagination was making him see Justin looking extremely tired. His shoulders were hunched and the skin under his eyes seemed darker; everything about his appearance made him look burdened. Burdened with secrets, perhaps.

At that moment, Justin was helping Clay set up his tent absentmindedly, not really doing a good job, and the worried faces of his friends told him that they were starting to notice that his mind was elsewhere. He kept thinking about the conversation he had had with Zach the night before, and he couldn't concentrate on anything else. 

The others were all worried that Justin was a threat to their secrets, and they had felt that way for a while now. The way that Justin refused to take Jessica back and how his hostility towards Alex had increased, all of this unsettled Ani, whose brain was racing, always trying to find ways to fix the situation.

Justin's loyalty to Clay was strong, though, and he had immediately told Clay everything Zach had told him. It had been hard to listen to Zach talk about how he thought he killed Bryce, when Justin knew perfectly well who really did it. He had tried to dissuade Zach from going to the police, he had said there was no reason to do so now that the case had gone cold, but it was no use. Guilt was tearing Zach apart; it was a feeling almost everyone in the gang could relate to, at least those who knew about Alex and Jessica and had helped to cover it up.

Bryce had been Justin's only family for most of his life. He had been the one Justin could count on, no matter what. He wasn't afraid to admit to himself that without Bryce, he wouldn't be where he was now. And even though at the end, he had hated Bryce with every fiber of his being for what he did to Jessica, he could not pretend his death hadn't affected him. Try as he may, he couldn't look Jessica in the eye and not see someone who had watched another person drown to his death, without doing a single thing to prevent it. He had agreed to keep quiet about it, because both Jessica and Alex had suffered enough, but murder was murder, and the secret weighed heavy on the soul.

Ani and Clay were worried about Zach. The last thing the group needed was for Zach to draw attention to the case again when it looked like the police were finally giving up. Who knows what they could dig up if Zach went there to tell them how he had beaten up Bryce at the pier, who knows what that would mean to them, what piece of the puzzle his confession might unlock. It was unwise to rock the boat now that the water was finally still, but Ani couldn't come up with anything that could stop Zach from going to the police without actually telling him who really did it. And she didn't trust him enough for that.

Ani's calculating personality was starting to get on Justin's nerves. It was as if she thrived on getting away with stuff. She didn't even express a single word of remorse, in fact, sometimes Justin could swear she was enjoying fooling so many people. She probably thought that being smarter than everyone else gave her power; if she could help someone get away with murder, she could do anything. It was disgusting to Justin, and that feeling had made him distance himself somewhat from the group, which had only worsened Ani's concerns about him.

Justin finally gave up pretending he was helping Clay with the tent and sat down next to it instead, watching Clay work the finishing touches. Clay looked at him, tired and already sweaty even though it was a cool morning, and his expression changed to one of understanding. He moved towards Justin, putting a hand on his back and whispering, "It's going to be fine, Justin. Hopefully, he rethinks his decision of going to the police. But if he doesn't, we need to stay strong to face whatever consequence comes out of that. We'll be fine as long as we stick together."

Justin nodded, a kind of automatic reaction to Clay's words, which he had heard a thousand times before. Stick together. That was their solution to everything. Everything was going to be fine as long as they did that. According to Clay. According to Ani. But every time they closed their eyes at night, they didn't see the swollen face of their drowned, dead, ex best friend. They had never been close to Bryce. His death was nothing to them beyond a huge inconvenience. And what was worse, they were in denial about how well the rest of the group was doing: Zach thought he killed Bryce and the guilt was eating him alive; Justin had lost Jessica, and Jessica had lost herself; and Alex was the worst of them all, he was so different now that sometimes Justin couldn't even recognize him. 

Somehow, over the noise of all the excited seniors that surrounded him, Justin picked up Alex's voice from the rest not far from where he was. Alex had his cane again, and he was speaking to Charlie. 

"Can we talk?" Charlie asked Alex, unintentional puppy eyes in full display.

Alex sighed, knowing where this was leading to, and nodded resignedly. "Sure, just not here."

Alex had seen Monty sitting next to Winston on the bus from school all the way to Burnham Woods. And he had seen Winston being introduced to the rest of the football team a few minutes ago. Alex didn't know where their sudden relationship had come from. It confused and angered him. Could it be possible that Monty was gay? Were they together? 

Alex and Charlie walked further into the woods and away from the camping site. Ever since the Valentine's dance, Charlie had a growing suspicion that he had been used. The thought of that made him uncomfortable. He didn't like to think about Alex in that way, and he felt like he needed to clear things up.

"I'm not here to reproach you for not wanting to go to the dance with me and going with Winston instead. I just have to know... Did you ever really like me? Because for a time, I thought you did."

"Charlie, do we really have to talk about this?" Alex had been watching Winston the whole time, and at that precise moment Monty was distracted talking with Luke. It was the first opportunity Alex had had all morning to approach Winston alone.

Charlie saw clearly what Alex was thinking, and his tone grew colder when he thought his suspicions were confirmed. It wasn't like him, but he wanted Alex to feel a little of the hurt he was feeling right now. "You're so hung up on him, and he doesn't even seem to care about you. He didn't even care that Monty punched you at the dance. He walked right past you when you were bleeding on the floor. All he cared about was Monty."

Alex's face hardened and his eyes focused on Charlie's face for the first time since the beginning of the conversation. "So they're together, then?"

Charlie opened and closed his mouth, suddenly unsure what to respond. If he was honest with himself, he suspected Monty and Winston had a thing, but Monty hadn't yet said anything about it, and the last thing that Charlie wanted to do was betray him again by outing him before he was ready. "Not that I know of."

"How do they know each other? Why are they suddenly hanging out?" Alex couldn't help asking.

Charlie told Alex what Winston had told them that morning, but Alex wasn't buying it. When Alex grew pensive, Charlie went back to his original question.

"So... did you ever like me or not? You never answered." He said, crossing his arms over his chest. Charlie felt vulnerable asking that question, but he needed an answer. He couldn't go on thinking that Alex had used him and convinced him to betray Monty just to save Clay from the murder charges. It didn’t occur to him that both of those things could be true. That Alex had really liked him but had also used him.

Alex decided that Charlie could still be useful. If Winston was going to hang out with football players, then Alex could get closer to him by sticking close to Charlie. 

"Of course, Charlie. You were the first boy I ever found attractive. You opened a new world for me," Alex said, putting his new plan into place.

Charlie could feel tears stinging his blue eyes. "Then, what happened? What made you change your mind?"

"Who said I changed my mind? It's just that... you never said anything, even though I kept waiting, thinking that you would. And then I saw you getting close to Luke, and I thought maybe..."

"Me and Luke?" Charlie asked, laughing incredulously. "Why would you think that?"

"Well, he seems to really like you. And aren't you bunking with him tonight?"

"Yeah, but we're just friends. I can't believe you thought Luke was gay," Charlie said, still laughing.

Alex casted his eyes down, pulling off a perfectly sheepish look. Charlie took a step towards him, "I still like you... a lot."

Alex knew Charlie was about to kiss him, and he decided he needed to set boundaries if he wanted to perfectly walk that line between keeping close to Charlie and leaving himself open for Winston. He took a step back to avoid the kiss, compensating by smiling his brightest smile and asking, "Well, in that case, would you mind bunking with me instead? I don't have anyone yet and these woods are kind of creepy. We can set our tent next to your friends."

Charlie smiled brightly in return, and Alex knew his plan would work. He knew it was a terrible thing to do to Charlie, but what had happened with Bryce proved that he was capable of doing much worse. This was nothing to the fact that he had committed murder; a fact that he had had to come to terms with, a fact that gave him nightmares and panic attacks. 

Alex was aware that, no matter how awful Bryce had been, not everyone in his place would have pushed Bryce to his death, like he had done. No matter how he tried to rationalize what he did, he was forced to admit that there was something seriously wrong with him.

Alex had a tent of his own that still needed to be set up, so Charlie helped him do it near Luke's and Monty's. Diego was still on the phone with Estela and hadn't even gotten started on his.

"Hey, Luke. Sorry, man, would you mind if I bunk with Alex instead?" Charlie asked Luke, interrupting his conversation with Monty. Monty's nostrils flared at the sight of Alex.

Luke looked crestfallen for a moment but he brushed it off quickly. "Sure, no problem. I'll just ask Diego. His lazy ass would probably love an excuse not to set his own tent."

Monty didn't like that at all. "If you're going to bunk together, why don't you do it next to his own friends, and the fuck away from us?"

Charlie looked sad at that. There was so much that he wanted to say to Monty. He wanted to apologize for betraying his trust, he wanted to tell him that he would do anything to get that trust back. Most of all he wanted Monty to know that he knew why he disliked Alex so much, that it had to do with Winston and that it was okay to be who he was, that it was okay to tell his friends when he was ready, that they would support him.

But instead of saying all of that, Charlie was speechless, and Luke intervened, saying, "Hey, man. Come on, be nice. They're not gonna bother us."

Monty resented the fact that Diego was still talking on the phone with Estela and wasn't there with them. Diego would have had his back; he couldn't stand Alex either, or any of Clay's and Ani's friends, for that matter. Luke had too much of a soft spot for Charlie. 

Charlie and Alex got to work on their tent, and Monty decided to let it go. At that moment, Winston approached Monty to tell him that Mrs Jensen wanted them all gathered at the camp share in a few minutes. There was going to be a treasure hunt soon and everyone needed to be in pairs. 

When Luke paired up with Diego and Monty paired up with Winston, Alex said to Winston, loud enough for everyone to hear, "I didn't know you and Monty knew each other. I've never seen you hanging out before, and yet you seem so close."

Monty felt himself blush, but before he had the chance to get really mad at Alex, Winston answered him with a shrug, "I guess we just hit it off." 

Winston knew Alex was jealous, and that there was a chance he suspected something was going on between him and Monty, but there was no way he was going to let Alex out Monty before he was ready. Now that Alex knew he was close to Monty, Winston lamented the fact that he wouldn't be able to get information about Clay and Ani from him, or about his new suspicions about Jessica. Alex would know right away what he was after. He was also sad at the loss of a friend. He didn't have that many to begin with, but at least now he had Monty's friends.

At the camp share, when Mrs Jensen asked them all who they trusted the most, neither Monty or Winston spoke up, they both knew the answer would have been each other, but the world didn't need to know that then. Diego was the first to speak up. He had always had a way with words.

"Many people scoff or underestimate the bond a sports team has. On and off the field, we all have each other's backs. We are not a gang, bound together by each other's secrets," Diego's eyes traveled over the faces of Clay and Ani, "we are a family joined by struggle and hard work and love. Did you know that Monty was the one who got me into football? When I was a freshman, a younger, clueless dominican kid, I thought someone like me couldn't play football. But he wouldn't hear it. And it's thanks to him that I am where I am today, about to go to college on a football scholarship. So to answer your question, I trust my team the most, and I'd trust Monty with my life."

Good-natured mocking from the football team followed that speech. Monty stood up and made as if he was wiping away a fake tear before dramatically hugging Diego, who laughed and said, "Alright, alright, enough." 

“I promise I won't tell Estela she's not who you trust the most," Monty joked. Even though they were teasing him, they all knew Diego had echoed how they all really felt.

Throughout the treasure hunt, Monty and Winston steered clear of Alex and Charlie. Spending all day together and having fun in public put them both in a great mood. And by nightfall, when the day's activities were finally over and Mrs Jensen sent them all to their tents, they couldn't keep their hands off each other. 

They were both sitting on the floor of their tent, and Monty ran his hands over Winston's thighs before pulling Winston on top of him. Their mouths locked together and Monty let himself fall back on the floor as Winston straddled him, grinding up against him.

However, they soon discovered that Winston's movements made the whole tent shake suspiciously, no matter how slowly Winston moved. Disappointment ran through Monty as he realized they wouldn't be able to fuck with the tent moving like that because everyone would notice. But that disappointment quickly turned to eagerness when he felt Winston going down on him, kissing his abdomen and pulling down his pants. 

Monty was struggling with not letting himself moan too loudly. The tents next to theirs were not that far away, and if he wasn't careful they would be able to hear him. Biting down on his lower lip seemed to be working fine for a while, but when his climax started to build and he felt himself close to coming inside Winston's mouth, he knew it wouldn't be enough. He grabbed Winston's hair with his right hand to keep him still as he pushed himself deeper into Winston’s mouth, biting down hard on his left fist and successfully muffling his loud groan as he climaxed.

"Fuck," Monty breathed as pleasure coursed from his groin and through his whole body.

Winston lied on his back beside him, still hard. Through his afterglow haze, Monty noticed Winston was touching himself in order to finish, and Monty sat up and swatted his hand away. 

Winston looked as Monty slowly, teasingly lowered himself down on him, something he had never done before. Winston's eyes rolled back into his head as he felt Monty's mouth tentatively wrap around him. Feeling Monty's tongue on him drove Winston crazy and he moaned loudly before he could stop himself. Monty immediately stopped what he was doing and put a hand on Winston's mouth, alarmed. 

“Shhh! Do you want everyone to hear us?”

“I'm sorry. Don't stop, please. I'll be quiet, I promise.”

Monty threw him a warning look before going down on him again, and as soon as he did Winston started moaning once more. This time Monty didn't stop sucking him off, but he forcefully shoved two of his fingers inside Winston's mouth to muffle the sounds. He could tell Winston was close to finishing, so he continued the rhythmic movement of his head until he could feel Winston's hands burying themselves in his hair and pressing down, letting Monty know that he wanted to come inside his mouth. Monty allowed it, curious, taking out his fingers from Winston's mouth and instead keeping a hand firmly pressed over it to make sure no one would hear him.

After he swallowed, Monty smiled at Winston's dazed look. He lied down next to Winston and embraced him, pulling their bodies together under the blankets, their foreheads touching. In that moment, it felt like nothing and no one else mattered, as if theirs was the only lonely tent under a starlit, deserted spot in Burnham Woods.


	12. House Party

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **Author's note:**
> 
> One of the things I enjoy the most about writing this fic is that in my story Monty gets to have a lot of the experiences that he was deprived of in the show. Like, for example, the camping trip, the Find Your Drink party (as you'll see in this chapter), and later on, prom and graduation. It makes me so happy to give him the opportunity to experience all of that. I hope you enjoy reading this chapter as much as I enjoyed writing it.

"You didn't get what you wanted, did you? I'm still here," Bryce said, flashing rotten teeth behind his black thin lips. "You see, Alex, people like Monty and me, we always win."

" _You_ didn't win. You're dead. I killed you. Assholes like you deserve to die. Monty should be dead, too," Alex whispered from his bed to the darkness in his room. 

The corpse cocked his head, amused. His face was deformed, it was grey and swollen, and Alex couldn't tell if he was smiling or not when he said, "And yet, you're still scared of me. Haunted by me. And Monty is happy with Winston. So, tell me again, how didn't we win?"

"I can make you go away. I did it once, and I can do it again." It didn't matter how tightly Alex shut his eyes, he could still see that same terrible face peering down at him from the dark.

Bryce cackled shrilly, and Alex covered his ears with his hands. The sound was getting louder, and Bryce's face was getting closer. Alex could smell the putrid stench of death coming out from Bryce's black mouth. 

His heart began to race at a dangerous pace and he knew another panic attack was coming. Soon, he began to hyperventilate and he felt a familiar pressure on his chest. He tried to focus on his breathing, he tried to inhale slowly and deeply, and after a few minutes of battling against that horrible feeling, he began to feel better again.

Alex had started to see Bryce everywhere after that fateful Homecoming night. Not a day had gone by without him being tormented by those visions, both in his waking hours and in nightmares. It had been like that until the day he met Winston. The few days he had hung out with Winston had been the most peaceful days he had had since he killed Bryce. As unhealthy as it may sound, as selfish as he knew it was, the fact remained that Alex needed Winston back. 

The camping trip had been a complete waste of time. Even though he bunked with Charlie and was as close to the football team—and of Winston—as possible, he hadn't been able to get Winston alone. Not even once. Monty had never left his side. 

Alex knew that he had acted too soon when he kissed Winston at the Valentine's dance. He had needed a bit more time, and he knew that if they could hang out again as before, Winston would come to realize that they belonged together. 

But for that, Alex needed a way to get rid of Monty, and he had an idea of how to go about it. If what he suspected was true, then he knew Monty's weakness. A closeted tough guy like him wouldn't appreciate anyone suggesting that he and Winston could be more than friends, and would probably do anything to dissuade people from thinking that was the case. Including treating Winston like crap in public.

Alex thought that the Find Your Drink party would be a good opportunity to test that theory. Almost the whole school would be there, and people from other parts of town, too. A bunch of kids unsupervised all night. If Alex were to strongly imply that there could be something going on between Monty and Winston, he would bet anything that Monty would spend the rest of the party as far away from Winston as possible, to prove him wrong. 

He had to do it casually, subtly, or else Winston would be mad at him and that would defeat his purpose. But at the same time he would need to do better than what he did during the camping trip. Merely suggesting that they became close friends in a short amount of time wouldn't do. No, he had to seriously put Monty's sexuality in question. He was sure that Monty's reaction would be nothing short of homophobic, which would hopefully put Winston off. For everything to work like he wanted it to, he would need to be hanging out with them at the party, so once again he would have to use Charlie.

Charlie, however, had been making his own plans when Alex called him. Instead of going to the party, like every single one of his friends was going to do, he had wanted to ask Alex out on a date, just the two of them. He had planned to take him bowling before buying him dinner, but Alex was adamant about wanting to go to the party, so Charlie gave in. He truly couldn't understand what the big deal was, or why everyone was so excited. He would have preferred a quiet night with Alex.

Unlike Charlie, Monty was one of those people that were very excited about the party. It had been a long time since he had been to one, and he was looking forward to having fun with the guys. Now that Winston and him were hanging out in public as friends, it was even better. They could all go together. 

Winston, on the other hand, was a little nervous. Monty's friends had so far been very nice to him, but he didn't know how well he would fit in with them as they partied and got themselves stupidly drunk. He didn't want to be a bother, or to prevent Monty from having as much fun as he could have if he wasn't there. He shyly voiced these concerns to Monty the night before the party.

"Don't be silly. You'll be fine. I'm happy you'll be there," Monty said as he tightened his arms around him, kissing the nape of his neck.

They had just had sex and were comfortably spooning in Winston's bed. Monty had been able to easily sneak out that night. His dad had started drinking early with some work buddies and was already passed out. It was Friday, the weekend was just starting, and Mr de la Cruz intended to be drunk and out of his house for most of it.

Winston shuddered pleasantly as he felt the kiss. Monty's lips were still touching the back of his neck and he could feel Monty's soft breathing on his skin. Winston had almost drifted to sleep when Monty said, "It's funny how it's supposed to be about finding your drink before going to college, and I'm not even sure I'm going yet."

"Why not?"

"Well, Coach Kerba was helping me with the applications, but I haven't heard anything back," Monty said in a low voice, embarrassed that he had even allowed himself to get his hopes up in the first place.

"Not yet, but there's still time."

"And I know you're going to get into some other Ivy League, even if it's not Princeton. You're going to go far away, and we won't see each other as often anymore because I'll be stuck here. Still trying to sneak out to see you with my dad breathing down my neck."

_Sneak out?_

Winston would be lying to himself if he said he hadn't thought about his future with Monty after high school. But in his fantasies, that future never involved having to still sneak out to be with each other. He had hoped that with his help Monty would be able to accept himself and be with him openly. He wanted to eventually live with him and build a life together. Winston didn't want to be a secret forever, but he thought that, perhaps, Monty had no intention of being in a public relationship with him. Ever. Winston was now worried that this was as far as the relationship would go, and he didn't know if he was okay with that. 

Monty, meanwhile, was too worried about their relationship to fully express it to Winston at that moment. He was thinking of how inevitable it was that Winston would go away after high school, and he was afraid that Winston would forget about him because he was too much of a coward to give him the life he deserved. He was sure Winston would find someone else once he was away, and that would be the end of them.

That thought made Monty hold Winston tighter against his chest. He remembered what Winston had said to him on the very first night they were together: "You can be whatever you want to be." Monty wished with all his heart that were true.

The night after, Monty arrived at Beecher's house—where the party was being held—with Diego and Estela. Usually, Monty was the best of them when it came to holding his liquor, so it was agreed that he would be the one driving when the night was over. In the back of his car were a case of Blue Moon beer and a bottle of Fireball Cinnamon Whiskey courtesy of Diego. Beecher had told them all to bring what they could. He was famous in school for his cocktail mixing skills, and he thought that the more alcohol, the better. 

They weren't inside long before they saw Luke coming in through the front door with a bottle of Jack Daniel's in one hand and a bottle of Disaronno Amaretto in the other. He joined Monty, Diego and Estela near the makeshift bar that Beecher had set up, and put his liquor next to the other endless bottles of vodka, beer, rum and whiskey that other people had already brought. Near a few towers of the classic red plastic cups there were also sugar, lemons, mint leaves, pineapple juice, gummy bears, and many other cocktail ingredients to play with. Monty thought it was kind of cool. Beecher had really outdone himself.

At that same moment, Winston was just arriving in his Audi, parking next to Monty's car. As soon as he entered the house, he saw Monty smiling at him from the bar, and his heart skipped a beat when he saw that Estela was there, too. He was finally going to meet Monty's sister.

Before Monty could even say hello to him, Estela was already hugging him tightly. "It's so nice to finally meet you!" She put her hands on his shoulders and pushed him back to look at his face, beaming at him. Winston saw with amusement how Monty subtly elbowed her and whispered, "Be cool!"

"Of course, we would have met sooner if my brother wasn't such an incredibly rude little monster," she continued, ignoring Monty. 

"I have to agree with you on that. I've wanted to meet you for a long time, too," Winston said with a smile that matched Estela's own contagious one.

"You've just met and you're already ganging up on me. I think I was right to keep you apart," Monty joked.

Luckily, Diego and Luke had been in deep conversation and they were just realizing Winston was there. They both greeted him warmly, as if Winston had always been one of them, and that pleased Monty. 

Both Diego and Luke had already started drinking. Winston, however, was looking at all those bottles of liquor with a lost expression on his face, and Monty had to bite back a laugh and control the sudden impulse to kiss his soft lips, which were currently slightly parted. 

Winston's father was a whiskey kind of man, but Winston himself wasn't really used to drinking. He could already foresee the potentially embarrassing moment of being asked what he wanted to drink. He truly had no idea, but he guessed that was the purpose of the party, to find the drink he preferred.

Estela noticed his indecision, too, and without asking him what he wanted, she took the bottle of amaretto that Luke had brought and mixed some of it with lemon juice, ice, and just a hint of sugar. She poured the mix into two plastic cups and offered one to Winston, "Amaretto Sour?" 

"Sure." Winston took the cup with a grateful smile. He took a sip and found that he liked the sweet and almond-like flavor. 

There were a million questions racing through Estela's mind, but they were surrounded by too many people for her to ask them, so their conversation was limited to small talk for the moment. Even so, Winston was surprised at how easy it was to talk to her, and his small initial nervousness at meeting her disappeared. It was obvious that she was very outspoken and fun to be around, and even though he could see her having a temper similar to Monty's, he could also tell that she could be perceptive and kind.

Monty decided the least he could do was give them space to talk since their meeting had been long overdue. He had a beer in his hand and was considering joining Diego and Luke in a game of pool when he saw Estela making another drink for Winston. This time she mixed the amaretto with Jack Daniel's whiskey. After making the same drink for herself, she took Winston's arm and they both walked away together toward the kitchen where it was much less crowded.

At that moment, Charlie and Alex were walking through the front door. Charlie spotted Diego, Luke and Monty and his face broke into a smile. As Charlie and Alex were making their way towards them, Diego let out an exasperated sigh. He was getting really tired of Charlie dragging Alex along everywhere, but he didn't say anything because he knew Luke would take it the wrong way. Instead he just threw his empty beer bottle in the trash with a loud clunk and announced that he had to go to the bathroom.

Diego was making his way through the hall and was just passing the kitchen when Estela's voice stopped him in his tracks.

"But you've been together for more than a year, haven't you?" Estela was saying.

"Not quite, but it'll be a year soon," Winston replied.

Diego was surprised. He hadn't known Winston was with someone, let alone for that long.

"And he's still keeping you a secret," Diego could hear the disapproval in Estela's tone. _He? Was Winston...?_

"I think, or at least I hope, that he just needs a little bit more time. Coming out is never easy, and I would never pressure Monty into doing it," Winston said, his voice turning sad but determined.

Diego's mind was struggling to process what he had just heard. _Monty? Gay?_

"And I totally understand. I just wish I could help you guys somehow. Anyway, let's talk about happier things. How did you guys meet? He refuses to tell me anything," Estela's tone had turned cheerful again, but Diego had heard enough.

He continued walking down the hall and away from the kitchen. Once he was safely locked in the bathroom, Diego could let himself assimilate the situation. Monty was gay. He had been with Winston for almost a year. And Estela knew about it. Who else knew? Diego thought that probably no one else. He was surprised to find himself blinking back some tears. He didn't know why he felt so emotional. Maybe it was the thought of his best friend keeping such a big secret from him, probably out of fear that he would reject him. It broke his heart, but he would never say a word of it to Monty, not until Monty was ready to tell him.

When Diego returned to join his friends, he found that Alex had already ditched Charlie and was nowhere to be found. Luke and Monty were just finishing a game of pool while Charlie watched. Since Charlie had never liked to play, Diego was just in time to play against Monty, who had won over Luke. Charlie and Luke watched them for a while, before Charlie said something to Luke and they disappeared, saying they were going to grab something that Charlie had forgotten in his car.

Alex, meanwhile, was making his way through the house searching for Winston. He had seen his Audi outside so he knew he was there, and what was better, he wasn't with Monty. That was a good, unexpected thing, and Alex wondered if it would be pushing his luck to wish he would find Winston alone. His hopes were crushed a second later, however, when he saw Winston walking arm in arm with Estela de la Cruz. Fury coursed through him. Now he was getting friendly with the sister, too? Alex saw them walk towards the pool table where Monty was playing with Diego. He noticed that Charlie wasn't there and for a second he wondered where he might be before deciding he didn't care. He approached them.

"Do you guys know where Charlie is? I can't find him anywhere." Alex asked. He might not care where Charlie was, but he still needed an excuse to hang around with them.

"He went with Luke to grab something from his car," Diego grudgingly replied.

"Oh, I'll just wait for him here, then," Alex said, sitting down on a nearby sofa.

Winston left Estela's side to go stand beside Monty. Their heads were close together as they debated what shot Monty should make next. 

Alex couldn't control himself as he glowered at them, and just to provoke a reaction, he said, "You know, you guys would make a cute couple." The change in Monty's expression was instant, and it gave Alex the satisfaction to know he had some power over him. "I'm just saying, you look cute together." He shrugged, feigning innocence. 

Monty quickly moved away from Winston but before he could say something that could hurt Winston's feelings, Diego said, "Please, if Winston were to be with any of us, I think the choice is clear." He outstretched his arms and turned around to show off his muscled body. "Of course it would be me." Estela burst out laughing and so did Winston. Just when Diego thought he couldn't like Alex less, he goes and does something like that. He didn't know if Alex knew about Monty or not, but he wasn't going to let him make Monty uncomfortable. Estela was thinking along the same lines.

The way Diego deflected the situation with humor had only served to infuriate Alex, and he continued to try to provoke Monty into treating Winston badly in front of everyone, or at least keep them apart all night. But the fact that Monty had both Estela and Diego looking out for him, not to mention his own instinctive desire to protect and be around Winston at all times, made it impossible for Alex to succeed. Even so, Monty was getting increasingly angry at Alex, and that was making him drink more than he should.

Meanwhile, Luke was inside Charlie's car watching him open a small plastic container full of homemade cookies. These cookies were not like the ones he had offered Luke during the college tour, as Charlie kept assuring him. Luke only laughed as he took the first one.

They ate in silence for a while, and then Luke asked, "You haven't really gotten around to talk things out with Monty, haven't you?"

Charlie bowed his head. No he hadn't, because he didn't know how to apologize without explaining to Monty why exactly he had betrayed him. Was he brave enough to tell Monty that he did it for Alex? He had thought he was, and he had been very close to tell him everything on the night of the Valentine's dance, but as time continued to pass, it became easier and easier to just keep avoiding the problem, even if their once close friendship was now awkward and strained because of it. 

The weed cookies were starting to take effect. They were both feeling relaxed and a little uninhibited. Luke raised Charlie's head and turned it to him with one index finger; two pairs of blue eyes locked. "I hate to see you so sad."

Charlie seemed unable to look away from Luke's face, and Luke, pulled in as if by a force similar to gravity, pressed his lips softly against Charlie's. The fact that they were high only intensified the sensation, and Luke cradled Charlie's face, pulling him closer to deepen the kiss. Charlie's thoughts were all over the place. He was thinking about how good the kiss felt. Then he was thinking about Luke's body, and about how it would feel to touch him. _He's a huge guy. Six feet and five inches. A lot of muscles. So different from Alex. Alex. Wait, what was he doing?_

Charlie pushed Luke away, breaking the kiss. "Luke, I'm in love with Alex," he blurted out.

Luke was confused by the sudden change, and then he seemed to realize what he had just done. He blushed deeply as he said, "Shit, I'm sorry, I don't know what came over me."

"No, I'm the one who's sorry," Charlie said, feeling extremely bad for Luke but also guilty about having enjoyed it.

But Luke had already recovered himself and was trying to shrug the whole thing off with a laugh. "I'm not even gay, it must have been those damned cookies of yours!"

Charlie laughed in spite of himself, although he wasn't sure he completely believed him. 

"Wait," Luke said, "did you say you were in love with Alex? Are you...?"

"Bisexual," Charlie answered. Luke nodded, and Charlie was relieved to find that he wasn't going to make a big deal out of it. 

"So that's why you've been hanging out with him so much."

It was Charlie's turn to nod.

"Is he in love with you?" Luke asked.

"I... I don't know. Sometimes I think he could be, and other times I'm not sure if he even likes me."

"Sounds like he's giving you a lot of mixed signals," Luke said, and when Charlie started to look sad, he added, "Hey, it's his fault if he doesn't know how lucky he is." 

Charlie smiled at him. "You're a good friend, Luke."

Meanwhile, inside the house, Monty was consuming large quantities of alcohol to keep himself from beating Alex up. He sat at the bar next to Winston, taking one shot of Fireball after another. They were alone. Monty didn't know where Luke and Charlie had gone, but he was willing to bet his right hand that Diego and Estela were in one of the rooms upstairs. The party had started to break up. Almost all couples had gone up to the rooms or were making out in hidden corners, and the single souls that were still around were either stinking drunk or passed out.

"Can you stop? Yeah, Alex is being kind of an asshole, but all you're going to accomplish if you keep this up is to make yourself puke in front of everyone," Winston said as he got a shot of Fireball out of Monty's hands. He brought the golden liquid to his nose and, prompted by the delicious smell of cinnamon, took the shot himself. 

Monty glared at the empty shot glass and then at Winston's wide, hazel eyes, annoyed. "Your eyes are almost too big for your face, did you know that?"

"No, they're not," Winston scoffed.

"I would like to see a picture of you as a baby. I bet your eyes took up half your face," Monty said, laughing drunkenly.

"Shut up," Winston laughed, too. "Why are you with me then, if you hate my eyes so much?" he asked in what was barely a whisper, just in case anyone was listening. The music was loud, and there was no one conscious in sight, but Winston knew that sober-Monty would want him to be careful.

"I love your huge ass eyes," Monty said, his slurred speech almost incomprehensible. He took Winston's struggling face and held it still so he could kiss each of his eyelids before giving him a quick peck on the lips. "I never said I didn't." Monty's annoyance seemed to have evaporated. It had never really been directed at Winston, anyway.

"You're definitely drunk. Completely wasted," Winston said, pushing Monty away before anyone could see them but unable to wipe the huge grin on his face at Monty being so affectionate. None of their friends seemed to be around at that moment, but there had to be at least someone in that party who had seen that.

"We need to go." As Winston heard himself say that, he realized his speech was starting to slur, too. That last shot of Fireball had done it. He decided he needed to eat something to shake it off. He was driving, after all. He doubted Estela and Diego were ready to leave the party any time soon, so it looked like he would be giving Monty a ride home. That night, both of Winston's parents were at home. They were both night owls and in Monty's current state, Winston doubted he would be able to successfully sneak Monty in. So he decided to take Monty to his own house.

Thankfully, Beecher had made tacos for everyone a while ago. Winston quickly gulped two of them while texting Estela that he and Monty were going to leave. She said it was fine and that she would give Diego a ride home later.

Estela: "And don't worry, dad's not home."

Winston couldn't pretend he hadn't been worried about that, and he let out a sigh of relief. But even if Monty's father had been at home, he would have still needed to do something to get Monty away from all the liquor. Winston, although being the smallest one of the two, felt as protective of Monty as Monty felt of him. 

Monty was surprisingly cooperating and Winston soon got him out of the house and into the passenger's seat of his Audi, putting his seatbelt on. "Good boy," Winston said teasingly. Monty felt dazed and weak. Even in his intoxicated state he mentally laughed at himself. He often took pride in his ability to handle his alcohol well, and yet he had made a fool of himself in front of Winston at the first party they had even gone to together. It was all Alex's fault.

The ride home passed in a blur to Monty. Before he knew it, they were in front of his shabby, small house. Warm light was coming out of the front window, and Monty groaned as he realized his mother was awake. 

Monty's feet weren't as steady as he thought, and he leaned on Winston a bit as they made their way to the house. Mrs de la Cruz opened the door, and Winston thought how crazy it was that he had met not one but two of Monty's family members in just the space of a few hours. 

Mrs de la Cruz made a reproving sound in the back of her throat at the sight of them, and for a horrible second Winston thought it was because he was there. But then she said to Monty, "Unbelievable. Haven't you seen your father drunk enough times to know better?"

She was just mad that Monty had arrived stinking drunk. "Here, let me help you get this foolish boy inside," she said to Winston amid Monty's protests of being capable of walking on his own.

Monty passed out the second his body hit his mattress, and Winston, distracted as he was by being in Monty's room for the first time, was startled when Mrs de la Cruz said to him, "You're Winston, right?"

Her tone was kind, and it made Winston feel just a little less nervous. "Yeah, it's nice meeting you, Mrs de la Cruz."

Taking his nervousness for uneasiness, she hurried to say, "You don't have to worry, my husband's not at home right now."

Winston nodded. "Estela told me he wouldn't be."

"I want you to know that... I don't feel the same way he does," she looked as if she was having trouble choosing the right words to express what she meant. She was used to being around the sexist, homophibic men in her family, and she didn't want to unintentionally offend and push Winston away. "All I want is for my children to be happy."

Winston smiled at her, and he wondered if Monty knew how supportive his mom could be. Mrs de la Cruz offered him something to drink, but after all the alcohol that Estela had pushed into his hands at the party, Winston just wanted some cold water, which he accepted gratefully.

They talked for a few minutes, getting to know each other, until Mrs de la Cruz looked at the clock and was scandalized by just how late it was. She asked him repeatedly if he was sure he was okay to drive, and after Winston reassured her that he was, she hugged him goodbye.

Mr de la Cruz got home earlier and than expected that night, even before Estela. He saw that Monty was already sleeping in his room, and seeing as the car was not parked outside, he started asking questions about how Monty had gotten there. Mrs de la Cruz had never been a good liar when it came to her husband. He had a way of getting things out of her, and he soon found out that Winston had been at his house. He was furious, but he knew where that kid lived. Monty had had to give the police his address back when he got arrested. He thought it was only fair to return the visit.

Inside Monty's room, Monty's phone screen lit up with a new notification. He wouldn't see the message until he woke up the next day, and when he did, he wouldn't recognize the number. The message, however, would upset him beyond words.

It was a somewhat blurry picture from Beecher's Find Your Drink party, but anyone would be able to tell that it was him and Winston in it. In the picture, Monty had Winston's face in his hands, and their lips were locked together. It had been taken in the millisecond that took Monty to give Winston a quick peck on the lips when he was drunk and stupid enough to believe that no one was looking. The text below the picture read: "Stay away from him or the whole school will see this." 

Earlier that night but miles away from Monty's house, down at the sheriff's station, Zach Dempsey had confessed to the police how he had beaten up Bryce Walker very badly on the night he died. He thought he was confessing to murder, when in fact it was only assault and battery. The police told him that Bryce had died by drowning. His confession had served to ease his guilt, but he had spoken too much without realizing it. Through his confession, Officer Standall had found out that Alex hadn't been where he said he was that night. Zach mentioned having seen him driving around with Jessica as he drove away from the pier. Old and unwelcome suspicions about his son's involvement in that crime resurfaced within Officer Standall. Now, on top of those old suspicions, was the newly discovered fact that Alex had lied about his alibi.


	13. Code Red

On late Sunday morning, both Monty and Estela were still sleeping off their hangovers from the night before. Any other day they would have been roughly woken up by their father, who usually slept in on weekends himself but god forbid his children did the same. 

But not today. Today, Mr de la Cruz had something else on his mind. 

He had already had three beers after breakfast and had the fourth on his left hand as he got in his car, a beat up 1997 Toyota Corolla. As he drove away, all he could think about was the fact that that boy had been in his house.

Ever since he found out that Monty was a faggot, he had been fighting the impulse to throw him out of the house. The only reason why he had listened to his wife and hadn’t done so was because no one else in the neighborhood knew about it; he was at least spared that humiliation. He realized that throwing him out would only make people ask unwanted questions.

Instead, he had tried his best to keep Monty from seeing that boy. He had threatened him, screamed at him, beat him senseless, and it was all for nothing because somehow they were still seeing each other. He had been too soft, too afraid of people finding out he had a faggot for a son, and now that boy had had the nerve of showing his face at his house. But he was going to put a stop to it today. 

He was driving twenty miles above the speed limit as he drank the last of his beer and threw the bottle out the window. Fury coursed through him and the beers hadn’t done anything to help with that. He knew where that kid lived, and he had a plan to get him out of his house and teach him a lesson. That boy would never disgrace his family again. _That faggot’s going to wish he never met my son._

It was unusual, but the roads were fairly empty that late Sunday morning, and later Mr de la Cruz would tell everyone how the truck that impacted the right side of his car came out of nowhere. The truth was that by the time he blew past that stop sign he was driving at thirty miles above the speed limit and would have been unable to stop even if he had seen the huge Ford F-150 coming from his right. His old Corolla was almost destroyed by the impact and he had been left instantly unconscious. Two things saved him from a quick death that day: one, that he was miraculously wearing his seat belt; and two, that the truck hadn’t come at him from the left, the driver’s side. 

Mr de la Cruz was currently fighting for his life in the Intensive Care Unit of the Evergreen Medical Center, and according to the doctors, it looked like he was going to make it. His wife and children were notified of his accident almost immediately after he arrived at the hospital. On the way to the hospital, Mrs de la Cruz told her children what their father had gone out to do. She had hesitated at first, but then she had been on the verge of calling the police on her own husband when she had gotten the call notifying her of the accident.

Monty was now sitting in the waiting room next to Estela, looking down at the cracked screen of his phone. The paramedics had found it next to Mr de la Cruz when they pulled him out of the car. Monty suspected that his dad had planned to text Winston from his phone to trick him into coming out of the house. The thought made him both angry and afraid of the lengths his dad was willing to go to keep them apart. It had been reckless to allow Winston to give him a ride home. Granted, he had been extremely drunk, but still, he should have seen this coming. He could never let his guard down. He felt that it was his fault that Winston had been in danger, and more irrationally still, he felt it was his fault that his father almost died.

And on top of it all, he now had Alex trying to blackmail him into breaking up with Winston. Everything was getting so overwhelming. What was he going to do? He already knew he loved Winston and didn’t want to be apart from him, but their relationship was so difficult. Not only did he have to worry about his dad, who thought he was the biggest embarrassment the family had ever had, but he had to deal with his own insecurities as well, his own fears that prevented him from being himself in front of everyone. Realizing that Alex probably knew that, and that he was using it against him, was almost enough motivation to tell him to go to hell and let him do whatever he wanted with that picture. But could he actually do it?

Winston called him a couple of times that day, but Monty, still overwhelmed by everything, didn’t pick up. Instead, he sent Winston a few vague and short texts saying that he couldn’t talk at the moment because something had come up. Winston was worried but didn’t push Monty for more clear answers.

“Don’t let this get to you, Monty,” Estela told him late that night, when they were already at home and the doctor had assured their mom that their dad was going to recover. “I can’t believe he would actually try to go to Winston’s house. He is the only one responsible for what happened to him, you had nothing to do with that.”

Some part of Monty knew that was true, but he couldn’t bring himself to fully believe it. His father’s comments had done more damage to his mind than he realized, and he couldn’t stop himself from thinking that if he had been normal, none of this would have happened.

Estela looked at him seriously, and said, “Don’t you dare push Winston away again because of this.”

Monty actually smiled at how serious she looked. It was a bit touching, how much she seemed to care about their relationship. “I don’t think you need to worry. I… know I won’t be able to stay away from him. It hasn’t worked in the past.” Admitting out loud that he had feelings for a boy still felt foreign to him, and he couldn’t look Estela in the eye while he said that, but at the same time he felt a bit more… free, as if he was no longer playing a part. 

Monty went to bed that night with a lot on his mind. He thought long and hard about what he wanted to do about his relationship with Winston, and he had reached a decision by the time he fell asleep.

The next day was Monday, and Winston was already at school, thinking about how distant Monty had been the day before. That behavior had done nothing to reduce his current worries about their relationship. Had their relationship gone as far as it was ever going to go? The more Winston thought about it, the more sure he was that he didn’t want to live the rest of his life like that, hiding the person he loved from everyone. He didn’t want Monty to feel like he was pushing him, and he definitely didn’t want to break up, so he was at a loss about what to do next.

It was still early and not many people were at school yet, so when Monty and Estela arrived, their voices carried easily through the halls. When they saw Winston, Estela smiled at him and greeted him with a gesture of her hand before going her own way, while Monty whispered to him that they needed to talk. That instantly made Winston’s thoughts turn to a paranoid mess of _“Did I do something wrong?”, “Did I mess up by talking to his mom after the party?”, “Is that why he was so distant yesterday?”_

Even though the school was emptier than usual at that early hour, Monty still wanted to find someplace where they could have privacy. He settled for a storage room. Inside there were a couple of unused desks and more than a few shelves of spare math and science textbooks. 

“What’s wrong?” was the first thing Winston could think to ask. Monty looked uncharacteristically nervous, and it was scaring Winston. 

“I’m sorry I didn’t call you back yesterday,” Monty decided to start with that before moving to the actual point of this talk. “It’s just… I’ve had a lot on my mind. And then dad got into a car accident—”

“What?!”

“He’s fine,” Monty hurried to say, “I mean, he’s not fine but he’ll pull through.”

Monty took Winston’s hands in his own, prepared to tell him everything.

“He was on the way to your house when the accident happened. He had my phone with him. I think he was going to use it to get you to come to him,” Monty shook his head sadly, “I can’t believe how close he came to hurting you. And what was I doing? Sleeping off a hangover.”

Winston’s heart was beating fast and he thought he could sense where this was going. He didn’t think he could take it again. He took a step towards Monty but Monty let go of his hands and pulled out his phone, showing him a blurry picture through the cracks on the screen. 

“As if that weren’t enough, I got this message the night of the party,” Monty said, “Although, I saw it yesterday morning. You recognize that number?”

“It’s Alex’s,” Winston said unbelievingly. He took Monty’s phone in his hands to get a closer look at the picture. It was them kissing at the party. That kiss had happened so fast, it was hard to believe someone had been able to take a picture of it. Alex must have been watching them for some time, probably taking pictures all the while until he got that one.

“He must have been drunk himself when he sent it. It was stupid to use his own number. Maybe he didn’t think I’d show it to you.”

“I can’t believe Alex would do this,” Winston said, and Monty scoffed.

“He’s obsessed with you.”

The jealous tone in Monty’s voice gave Winston a little hope, but he was still sure that Monty would break up with him over this, and he was prepared to beg him not to.

“Monty, we can figure something out. Even if we have to stop hanging out at school,” but as he said it, he realized that things with Monty’s father were as dangerous as ever, and they probably would have even more difficulties seeing each other outside of school hours. Tears were starting to burn his eyes and he fought them off, desperately trying to think of a way to fix their situation.

Monty’s forehead creased with worry when he realized Winston was about to cry. He grabbed Winston’s arms and pulled him into a tight hug. “Why are you so sad?” He then realized how Winston may have misinterpreted his intentions, “Do you think I’m going to break up with you?”

Winston pressed his face to Monty’s chest. “Well, yeah. Aren’t you?”

“Of course not. The last time I did that I ended up punching Alex in the face, remember? I don’t think this time is going to be any different.”

Winston laughed, and Monty buried one of his hands in Winston’s curls as he started to say, “No, what I want to do is ask you something.” He paused, suddenly nervous again. “Do you—”

But just then they heard someone wrestling with the doorknob, trying to open the door that Monty had left unlocked. It was a girl’s voice coming from behind the door, and it sounded like she was having an argument with someone else.

Just as Monty and Winston managed to hide behind one of the shelves of old textbooks, the door swung open and Jessica Davis walked in, followed by Justin Foley. Justin locked the door behind him. They had used that room multiple times in the past to talk or just make out, and it didn’t even occur to them to check if there was someone else there.

“Justin, please, I’m scared,” Jessica was saying, “after what Zach told the police, Ani thinks it’s likely they’ll want to talk to me next. You have to help me get rid of it.”

“Why did you even make a copy in the first place?” Justin shook his head in frustration. “I wish you had never involved me in any of this. You had no problem getting rid of the original tape, you and Ani can deal with this one, too. I’m not your boyfriend anymore.”

“Justin,” Jessica begged, “please. I remember a time when I could always count on you. What happened to us? After everything I’ve been through—”

“Yes, you’ve been through a lot,” Justin admitted, “and now you use your new-found strength to help people like you who have been wronged by the system.” His tone dripped with sarcasm at the last part.

“He—”

“Jess, just don’t. Don’t tell me he deserved it. He was a human being. He deserved a lot of things, but he didn’t deserve that.” Justin ran both of his hands down his tired face. “I gotta go or I’ll be late for class.”

Justin exited the room, and Jessica, sighing, followed after him.

Winston and Monty looked at each other in silent shock at what they had just heard. Usually, Monty was the hot tempered one, but for the first time Winston was even more furious than him. Jessica had been the one to frame Monty. Now they knew for sure. 

“We have to go to the police, as soon as we can. Before she gets a chance to get rid of the evidence. She must have been the one who killed Bryce!” Winston said.

All Winston could think about was how Monty could have been locked up for years because of her if he hadn’t been able to provide an alibi for him. It had been her fault that Monty had had to come out to his dad in an interrogation room, that they hadn’t been able to see each other as often as they wanted to because Monty’s dad had an eye on them, and that Monty’s homelife had gotten even more difficult. They knew now that it was all Jessica’s fault, and Monty had never seen Winston so angry.

Monty’s frame of mind was different. While all Winston wanted was to avenge him and get justice for him, Monty only cared about protecting Winston. They each thought of what would be the best for the other rather than for themselves, and Monty didn’t want to get Winston more involved in Bryce’s murder investigation than he already had been. Someone, maybe Jessica, had killed Bryce, who’s to say she wouldn’t kill again if she felt threatened? They had already shown what they were capable of, what if now they turned their eyes to Winston instead?

As Monty struggled to put all of this into words, they heard Principal Bolan’s voice as he announced over the PA that the school was going into a “code red hard lockdown.” The orders were to take shelter immediately, barricading doors and hiding under tables when possible.

“I didn’t know there would be a drill today,” Monty said, confused.

“Me neither… Code red, that means active shooter, right? What if it’s not a drill?” Winston asked, nervous, as Monty started barricading the door. At least they were together, Winston thought.

“I’m sure it is. Bolan has to do this every once in a while. It’s a box he has to check,” Monty said, trying to sound calm and reassuring. 

Winston tried to help Monty as much as he could, moving desks and shelves towards the door. 

When they were done, they sat together under a desk, now more or less convinced that this was in fact a drill. Winston’s mind had drifted towards Jessica again. The thought of someone having hurt Monty made him furious, and he wanted Jessica to pay. He didn’t know how much his word would be worth to the police, but he was determined to tell them what they had heard. 

Monty noticed Winston’s furrowed brow and knew what he was thinking. He opened his mouth to tell Winston he should stay out of it, but the words died in his throat as they both heard the unmistakable sound of shots fired.

“What the fuck?!” Monty whispered, truly scared now and not bothering to hide it. Winston hugged Monty tightly and pressed his face to the side of Monty’s neck, all thoughts about Jessica gone from his mind in the face of this bigger threat.

“I don’t think this is a drill,” Winston said, and Monty had to agree. This was nothing like the drills they’ve had before. 

Sudden panic paralized the both of them. Someone was trying to open the door. Forcefully. Winston’s hazel eyes locked on Monty’s dark green ones, and Monty slowly put one index finger on his lips. They sat in total stillness for a few moments. They couldn’t hear anyone outside the door anymore, all they could hear were each other’s frantic heartbeats.

“I love you,” Winston whispered, pressing his face to Monty’s neck again, “I don’t say it enough. I love you so much.”

“You have all the time in the world to say that to me because we’re going to be fine,” Monty whispered back. He kissed Winston’s cheek and added, “I love you, too.”

It was taking all of his will power to stay so calm for Winston’s sake, but the threat of imminent death was really putting things in perspective for Monty. Right then, he felt the fear of losing Winston forever overpowering every other silly little fear that kept him from living the life he truly wanted to live. At that moment, faced with death, Monty could think of nothing but all the time he wasted being away from Winston because of his stupid insecurities. He had made a decision the night before about their relationship, and he was now completely sure that it was the right one. 

As if Winston could read his mind, he said, “What were you going to ask me?”

“What?”

“You were going to ask me something, right before Jessica and Justin barged in.”

“Right,” Monty smiled, “I thought about it a lot, and I think I’m ready, or I will be ready, when the time comes.”

When Winston looked more confused than ever, Monty finally got to the point. “I wanted to ask you… would you like to go to prom with me?”

Winston’s hazel eyes shot wide open in shock. For a moment, he forgot that there was probably a shooter out there trying to kill people. Monty asking him to prom was enough to drive all thought of code red lockdowns out of his mind. “Are you serious? Go to prom with you, as your date?”

Monty nodded. “I don’t want to hide anymore, and I don’t want to graduate and leave this high school forever as a coward. I want to go to my senior prom with you, so that’s what I’ll do. I mean, if you want to go with me.”

“Of course I want to go with you!” Winston smiled brightly and gently kissed Monty’s lips. The kiss quickly deepened; Monty’s hands were in Winston’s hair, and Winston was soon desperately trying to close the distance between their bodies. It was the first time they had ever made out on school grounds, and that made it even hotter for both of them. They forgot all about the lockdown. In any case, if they were going to die, there was nothing else they’d rather be doing. 

Monty broke the kiss, smiling breathlessly, and pulled out his phone. Under the picture of him and Winston that Alex had sent him, he typed “do whatever the fuck you want” and hit send.

Alex got the notification immediately. He and Charlie had been in the library, studying for Spanish, when lockdown began. They were currently barricaded in with a bunch of other kids and the school librarian, who was just as in the dark as everyone else on whether this was a drill or not. 

Charlie, who was sitting beside him under a table, noticed his expression and asked him if he was okay, but Alex barely heard him. The possibility that some crazy, heavily-armed person could burst through the door at any moment was already pushing the limit of Alex’s self control, and Monty’s text just brought him over the edge. He could feel himself beginning to hyperventilate. 

Out of all the possible reactions that Monty could have had, this was the least expected. Monty being too embarrassed to come out as gay was the only weapon that Alex had against him. What was he going to do now? His anger was telling him to show that picture to every single person at Liberty, but he realized that if he did that, Monty would then really have no reason to hide Winston anymore. He could end up bringing them even closer together.

Alex let out a yell of frustration as he threw his phone away from him. It ricocheted off the nearest wall and landed on the floor, undamaged. The Otterbox case that his father had got for him had protected it, but the sound had scared some of the kids and the librarian shot him a dark look before gesturing for him to be quiet. Charlie took Alex’s hands in a desperate attempt to calm him down; he sounded as if he couldn’t breathe. 

“Alex, look at me. Hey, concentrate on squeezing my hands and try to slow down your breathing. Everything will be alright, I promise.” 

Alex tried to do as he was told, but he couldn’t stop thinking about Monty and Winston being together, about how Monty had taken Winston away from him. His obsession with Winston prevented him from appreciating what was right in front of him, someone as sweet and good as Charlie. All he could feel inside of him was anger and hate. He hated Monty with every fiber of his being, just like he had hated Bryce. He felt the sudden mad desire to see Monty dead, and he hoped that the shooter would get him. He also felt that way about himself. 

He let go of Charlie’s hands, suddenly repulsed by him, and ran to the door. Before anyone could stop him, he had managed to open the door just enough for someone as skinny as him to get through. Still blinded by that irrational, suicidal rage, Alex tried to run, screaming for the shooter to find him, before tripping on his own cane and falling down hard to the floor.

Before he knew it, Charlie was at his side nervously trying to help him up. Alex’s screams had carried all the way to Principal Bolan’s office, and he was walking towards them now, demanding to know what was happening and why they weren’t following the lockdown protocols. 

“Let go of me, Charlie, I just want to die! Let the damn shooter finish up what I couldn’t do myself!”

“No one is going to die,” Principal Bolan said loudly over Alex’s protests, “come to my office. I think we better end this now.”

Inside Bolan’s office, Charlie and Alex, along with the rest of the school, were finally told for sure that the lockdown had been part of a very realistic active shooter drill, as Principal Bolan announced it over the PA and effectively ended the lockdown. Police officers were going around the school, getting people out of their hiding places and reassuring them that they were safe.

Diego and Luke had spent the lockdown down in the locker rooms with Coach Kerba and a bunch of guys from the football team. As soon as lockdown was over, Diego went to find Estela, and Luke’s first thought was to find Charlie, who hadn’t answered any of his texts when the lockdown had been going on. After the initial relief of finding him alright, Luke’s feelings quickly turned to anger when Charlie told him what had happened with Alex. At the time, no one had known whether it was a drill or not, and Luke couldn’t believe that Alex would put Charlie in danger like that. 

Trying to stifle his anger and annoyance at Alex’s recklessness, Luke hugged Charlie and tightly and said, “Well, I’m glad you’re alright.” 

Monty, Winston, Estela and Diego soon joined them, and as Charlie left them to check up on Alex again, Luke said to Diego and Monty, “I’m starting to get why you two can’t stand Alex.”


	14. U of M

Before his son had attempted to commit suicide, Officer Bill Standall had constantly pestered him about finding male friends, about acting more like a man, and had even encouraged him to get into fights when necessary. It was something Bill deeply regretted, and he blamed himself for everything his son had to go through. He had placed unfair and unreasonable expectations on Alex, and he now lived to try to rectify his mistakes.

That is why, when Winston Williams walked into the police station after school and told him what he had overheard Justin Foley and Jessica Davis saying, his first instinct was to race home immediately and look through Alex's things for something that could incriminate him. Hearing that Jessica probably had something to do with the murder of Bryce Walker was worrying because, according to Zach, his son had been with Jessica that night. Now that they were starting to look into Jessica as a possible suspect, it wouldn't be long before they started looking into Alex as well.

It felt wrong to go through his son's things, but it also felt necessary. He was operating on an almost automatic paternal instinct, without even stopping to truly think things through. His hand touched something hard as he ran it deep through his son's sock drawer. He grabbed the item and pulled it out. It was a bottle of 200 milligrams of Testosterone Cypionate, a steroid medication mainly used to treat low testosterone levels in men. His heart sank. He couldn't help but feel guilty. Not only was his son unnecessarily injecting that into his body—probably because of some misguided ideas of masculinity that he had passed down to him—but those were also the same brand of steroids they had found in Bryce's Range Rover after he died. 

Officer Standall put the bottle inside a pocket in his jacket and continued the search, in case there were others. Alex would be able to tell that he had gone through his things, but maybe it was time he confronted his son about this. Could Alex really be capable of murdering someone? What would drive him to do something like that? And, more importantly perhaps, would he cover for Alex if he was really guilty? His first instinct was to say yes, he wanted to protect his son from years, maybe even life in prison. The temptation to have Jessica take the fall for it was strong. He loved his son, and only wanted what was best for him. 

Meanwhile, Winston was at home, thinking how he had done the right thing by telling Officer Standall about Jessica having Bryce's tape. Monty had told him to leave it alone, but he couldn't get over the fact that those kids had sent Monty to prison to cover their own asses. They needed to pay. His love for Monty was so strong that it brought out a vengeful side he didn't know he had in him. No one hurt the boy he loved and got away with it.

His phone rang, and that was enough to drive away those dark thoughts at once and make him break into a smile. It was Monty.

"Hey. I just got off the phone with Coach Kerba."

"Yeah? Any news?" Winston asked.

"Actually, yeah." Monty could barely contain the excitement in his voice. Winston thought it was adorable. "A college coach is interested in me. Wants to talk to me about a scholarship opportunity."

"That's amazing! What university?"

In a lower, less excited voice, Monty murmured, "The University of Michigan."

Winston's mouth dropped slightly and he barely stopped himself from saying _"Michigan?!"_ before he recovered. It didn't matter that Michigan was 2,000 miles away, all that mattered was Monty's happiness.

"He's offering me a full ride," Monty hurried to say, "But... I don't _have_ to take it. I know it's really far. I don't want it if I'm going to be away from you."

"Don't be silly. This isn't about me. This is about your future. I would never let you turn down an incredible opportunity like that just because of me."

"But—"

"Monty," Winston cut him off, "you know I'm going to follow you wherever you go. I don't care how much money I have to pay to get in. There, you made me say it."

That made Monty smile, but he said, "Really? Are you sure you don't want to go to an Ivy League school?"

"Nope, I want to be where you are."

"I would kiss you right now if you were here," Monty said.

Winston laughed. "Besides, UM is a great university." He was already looking up the University of Michigan on the Internet. "It makes sense they would want to recruit you. It looks like football is a big deal there. I'm reading an article that says they have the biggest football stadium in the country."

"That's awesome."

"Apparently, they also have one of the best college towns," Winston added, looking at online pictures of Ann Arbor. "Honestly, it looks like a nice place to live."

"Coach Kerba mentioned something about setting up an official campus visit and that I should work out a weekend to make the trip. He said I could take one of my parents, but I asked him if you could go with me instead. He said that in that case the university would only pay for my expenses, but aside from that it shouldn’t be a problem," Monty said, "So, we could spend a weekend there, if you want to go with me." 

Winston felt a warm, happy sensation in his chest at that. He couldn't believe how just recently he had been worried about his future with Monty. He shouldn't have doubted him. "Okay."

After a short pause, Monty said, "I still can't really believe it. It's like.. what have I done to deserve this?"

"So, you don't think you deserve to have good things happen to you?" Winston asked, with a tone that suggested how wrong Monty was if he believed that.

"Well... no. I've done a lot of fucked up shit. You don't know the things I did to protect Bryce, all the secrets I kept for him. Even when I'm trying to be good, I still fuck up. Just look at everything I've put you through. After all of that, how can I just go to such a great college? And with you? In what world do I deserve that?"

Monty thought he didn't deserve a better life, but Winston knew his heart. He knew, from the moment he met him on that beach, half-drunk and with bruises all over his face, that Monty was someone who just needed to be treated right, who needed love, and he felt immensely happy to have been the one to love Monty and help him get better. He truly felt like there was nothing in the world he wouldn't do for Monty.

"You're not the same person you were back then. I'm proud of how much you have grown. You deserve everything good that happens to you, and more, as far as I'm concerned."

After a few more reassurances from Winston, they hung up, and Monty went to bed that night feeling happy and at ease. It seemed as if his life was slowly coming together. For a long time he thought he had no future, and yet his future was starting to take shape right before his eyes. He was going to college, he wasn't alone, he had someone that loved him and wanted to be with him, what more could he ask for? 

Even his homelife had changed somewhat. His father barely even talked to anyone ever since the accident. Mr de la Cruz spent his days lying in bed, slowly recovering. He hadn't asked for alcohol, and had not yelled at anyone or lost his temper ever since he got out of the hospital. Monty thought the accident must have really scared him, he must have thought he was going to die. And he almost did. Monty thought that had to change a man, even if just a little.

After the accident, Monty's father had had a lot of time to think about what happened to him. It had been his first near-death experience, and for some curious reason it had got him thinking about his childhood, and the way he was raised when he lived with his parents and brothers back in Mexico. 

Mr de la Cruz remembered how his own father used to behave, and was not surprised to find that he had grown to be an almost identical version of him; always drunk and bad tempered. He came from a proud family, and that pride came not from success in life as most people see it, but from their reputation on the street. Everyone knew not to mess with him or any of his brothers. Where he came from, you had to be tough to survive, you had to be a man. If you showed weakness, you were dead. Emotions were not something to be proud of, unless it was anger, or lust. Anything other than that, you kept to yourself. If you were having trouble dealing with that, you dealt with it like a man, with a few beers.

Misogyny and homophobia were deeply rooted in his family. So much so that those words were not even in their vocabulary. Being homophobic or misogynistic was just called being normal. The women stayed at home and took care of the children, and the men went out to make a living and provide for their families anyway they could. Using physical violence as a means of disciplining your children was common practice. Effeminate men who stayed at home without ever marrying were subjected to mockery, as were spinsters. 

This is all Mr de la Cruz knew, as far as he was concerned, that's how the world worked. That's why, when his son said he was gay, the only thing he could do about it was try to fix him. Beatings, threats, punishments; he tried everything. It almost felt like a biological instinct, as if subconsciously he was trying to protect his family from weakness and shame, to protect his son from the awful life he had seen faggots live back in Mexico. 

But that had been a long time ago. These were different times, and he wasn't the twenty year old kid he had once been—raising holy hell with his brothers back home—he was a fifty-three year old man who had almost died on his way to beat up his son's boyfriend.

 _Boyfriend. Disgusting._ He thought fiercely how he would never accept it. It takes a lot to change a man, and most of the time the old ways that have been drilled into his brain never really die, but _something_ had shifted inside Mr de la Cruz. That accident had made death as real to him as the bed he was currently lying on. He was going to die some day, and so would his son and everyone else. He realized that he didn't have the drive or the desire to stop his son from living his own life anymore, even if he didn't approve of it.

When Monty plucked up the courage to tell him about the scholarship, and about the weekend he was going to spend in Michigan to visit the campus, the first thing Mr de la Cruz asked was, "And you're taking _that boy_ with you, aren't you?" It didn't even cross his mind to congratulate his son on being offered a full-ride to college. 

Monty swallowed before looking into his father's eyes and saying, "Yes, he's coming with me. And his name is Winston." It was the second time he had openly acknowledged his sexuality to his father, and he found that it was a bit easier this time around. He guessed it was only going to get easier with time, and that thought comforted him. He was also incredibly furious at his dad for trying to go after Winston, and that rage gave him courage. Holding on to that courage, he said, "I'm not hiding from you anymore. I’m done being afraid," before he started to walk away. He was determined to be the man Winston deserved.

Mr de la Cruz stared hard after his son. "I raised you the only way I knew how," he called after him. It hurt to raise his voice, and he grimaced in pain.

Monty stopped to stand for a second at the door. "I know," he said. Then he left the room. 

He knew that was as close to an apology as he was going to get. It wasn't enough, and there was too much resentment there for him to completely forgive a father who had been nothing but terrible to him, but he could feel that the conversation had done him some good. He felt a bit lighter, as if all the stuff that was weighing him down was beginning to lift. It felt so strange to him to feel... excited about his future.

According to Coach Kerba, the college coach was eager to get him on board, and the official campus visit was quickly set up. The university would pay for transportation, meals, lodging and tickets to a home game. Coach Kerba told him to pack athletic clothes in case he was invited to work out with the team, and he kept reminding Monty that the coach would be evaluating him as well during the visit, meaning that he needed to be on his best behavior. After a week of hearing this from Coach Kerba everyday, Monty's nerves were starting to get the best of him. When the weekend arrived, Winston had to reassure Monty that this was a good thing and that being a bit nervous was normal. Monty got on the plane adamantly declaring that he wasn't nervous, even though he clearly was, and Winston was repressing a smile and doing his best to pretend that he believed him.

The flight was a little more than four hours, and then the taxi drive from Detroit to Ann Arbor was another forty minutes. By the time they got to the North Quadrangle Residential and Academic Complex—the building where they would be staying for the weekend—they were completely beat. Their room was on the top floors and it was really spacy; it had two desks that faced the windows; a big, comfortable couch; and two twin beds, one on each side of the room (Monty had immediately collapsed on one of them). Their dorm building was very cozy, and it had a pretty cool architecture. The whole town was very pretty, and Winston was already itching to take out his camera. As he looked out of their window onto the street below, he liked how active and colorful the night life seemed to be there. 

Closing the curtains, Winston turned himself away from the window and walked towards the bed that Monty was currently lying on. He kissed Monty softly on the lips before leaving a trail of kisses down his neck. Monty smiled and grabbed Winston by the waist, getting him into the bed and on top of him. "Well, I know what's the first thing I want to do in Ann Arbor," Monty said, making Winston chuckle. 

They started kissing again. Their hands moved fast, clothes were coming off and falling carelessly to the floor. Winston could tell Monty was in a good mood by the amount of control he was allowing Winston to take. At that moment, Winston had Monty in his underwear, pinned down on the bed, and moaning softly as he straddled him, grinding deliciously against him. Winston was torn between staying where he was or getting off Monty for a second to finish undressing completely. "Get these off," Monty motioned to both of their underwear. 

"Only if you promise to stay where you are until I get on top of you again," Winston said, already a little out of breath.

"Fine," Monty said hoarsely. 

Monty kept his word, and he let out a breathy moan as Winston lowered himself down on him and started to ride him. Monty smirked as he felt Winston's hands on his wrists, pressing them down on the mattress. He let Winston have his fun for a few minutes, then he freed both wrists from Winston's grasp and, holding Winston by the waist, he picked him up and made him bend over one of the desks. Winston's hands grabbed the edge of the desk as he felt Monty take him roughly from behind.

When they finished, they snuggled down together in one of the beds, completely ignoring the other. They fell asleep enjoying each other's warmth and thinking about the fact that they had a whole weekend for themselves.

Before they got there, Winston had been a bit worried about transportation. He thought it was going to be difficult to get around, but even though the traffic was a bit heavy for those who were driving, they found that Ann Arbor was a town made for walking. Almost any place worth seeing was within walking distance, and if not, it was extremely easy to rent bikes and move around in those. Their dorm building was right next to Rackham Auditorium and very near UM's Museum of Natural History. They had a Buffalo Wild Wings right across the street, and many other restaurants, low- and high-end, were also near and accessible.

Instead of expressing his own point of view, Winston was letting Monty form his own opinion. After all, the purpose of this visit was to determine whether or not Monty would accept the coach's offer. This was his chance to get to know the campus, the culture, the team and the dorms and then decide if he would feel comfortable living there for the next four years.

It was a busier weekend than they had imagined. They visited different housing options, on and off campus; they explored the huge campus as much as they could, the library, the museum, the stadium; they even bought some merch at The M Den—a big store full of all sorts of things with the university's colors and logo on them—to take home as souvenirs. Like Coach Kerba had predicted, Monty was indeed invited to workout with the football team, and he seemed to get along well with them as well as with the coach. When the visit was almost over, and the coach asked Monty if he needed a bit more time to think about the offer, Winston could see that Monty was ready to accept right then. Winston smiled and nodded at him to encourage him, and Monty took that opportunity to lock down a commitment. Winston couldn’t help the overwhelming feeling of happiness and excitement he felt for Monty. It was official, Monty would be going to The University of Michigan in the fall, and therefore so would he. He would talk to his dad and arrange that as soon as possible.

After another four-hour-long flight, they landed in California late Sunday evening. Monty was too excited to sleep, so he called Winston as soon as he got home. They had so much to talk about that they barely got any sleep that night, even though they had school the next day.

On Monday at lunch time, they were hanging out at the tables outside the cafeteria with Diego, Estela, and Luke, when Justin Foley approached them asking if he could talk to Monty alone. Justin had not looked good for a while, but today he looked worse than ever, as if he hadn't enjoyed the peace of a good night's sleep in a very long time. Diego shrugged and left with Estela, and so did Luke, but when Winston made as if to leave too, Monty grabbed him by the wrist and pulled him towards him again. Winston felt Monty briefly caressing the inside of his wrist with his thumb before letting it go. "You can stay," Monty said to Winston before addressing Justin, "anything you have to say, you can say in front of him." 

Justin looked at them curiously. Monty and Winston weren't really _out_ yet, even though Monty had asked Winston to the prom. However, occasionally, there were moments like that when they touched each other in a way that friends did not, and sometimes the touch lingered more than it needed to, and that made other people look at them suspiciously. 

Justin tried to focus on what he had actually come there to say, and sitting across from them, he began in a low voice, "Right, Monty, I’ll get right to the point. I want to talk to you about Bryce. About what really happened to him."

Monty frowned. A long time ago Justin and him had been really close, almost like brothers, when they had been Bryce's best friends. Justin wasn't that different from him: they both had crappy parents and a rough homelife, and they both had owed Bryce a lot of shit. That's how Bryce got them to stick with him. Still, despite all Bryce's faults, he had always been there for them, when no one else would. 

"What do you know about that? And why tell me now, half a year later?" Monty asked. Talking about Bryce made it easy to default back to his old, mean attitude. 

Justin licked his lips nervously and looked to his right. Following his line of sight, Monty realized Justin was looking at Clay.

"What, did Clay do it?"

"No, it wasn't him," Justin hurried to say. "Look man, I've wanted to talk to you about this for a long time. It's just... out of loyalty to someone, I had to stay quiet and agree to things I didn't really want to. I'm sure you can understand that better than anyone."

"Out of loyalty to Clay?" Monty asked and Justin nodded, "Why? You said he didn't do it."

"He didn't do it, but he was protecting the person who did. He thought, at the time, that it was the right thing to do."

Winston had been listening to the conversation attentively, and now asked brusquely, "So, was it his idea to try to pin it on Monty, then?"

Justin shook his head before breathing deeply. He put his hands together and, lowering his head, he whispered, "Alex did it," he raised his gaze to meet Monty's eyes now, "after Zach beat him up, Alex pushed him into the water. And he drowned. Jessica was there, too. She watched the whole thing happen. She had come to meet Bryce because he wanted to give her something."

"The tape," Winston said, shocked. 

Justin nodded, and looking at Winston now he said, "It was Ani's idea to frame Monty," Winston's nostrils flared at that, "I didn't want anything to do with that, but you gotta understand that at that time Clay was really close to being arrested. I wanted to protect him, and no one else had a better idea to get him out of trouble. So, Clay went along with it, as did Jessica and Alex. And I kept my mouth shut."

Winston's mind was having a hard time processing this. Fury mixed with confusion and incredulity. He used to hang out with Alex. They even went to a dance together as friends, and all the while he had been the one responsible for sending Monty to prison, where he had endured the humiliation of having his father spit on his face after he was forced to come out in front of two police officers. It was unforgivable. Alex needed to pay.

While Winston let himself be consumed by such thoughts of revenge, Monty asked Justin again, "Why are you telling us this now, Justin? What the hell changed?" He was angry, too.

Justin looked at Clay again before answering. "I was able to finally make him see sense. Alex can't get away with this, and as much as it pains me to say it, Jessica can't either. They should have gone to the police right away. Bryce was a human being, no matter what he did, he had a family, he had people that loved him. We loved him, too, at some point."

"I didn't... love him—" Monty started to say, but Justin cut him off.

"The point is, we are tired of keeping this huge, dark secret. It has done us no good." Then, Justin caught Clay's eye and motioned for him to join them.

As Clay walked towards them, Monty asked, "Why is he coming here?"

"He wants to say sorry, too. You didn't deserve what they did to you. You didn't deserve it then and you sure as hell don't deserve it now. I've seen the way you turned your life around. Is it true you got recruited to play in college? UMich? I heard it from Coach Kerba, he's really proud of you."

"Hey," Clay said as he sat next to Justin. He admitted to them how everything that Justin said was true. All he wanted was to apologize to Monty. "I'm truly sorry for what we put you through. I was just scared, I know that's no excuse, but I was terrified of going to prison, and I was worried for my friend, too. Sometimes we do stupid things out of fear, or when we're trying to protect the people we love. I mean," Clay's tone got a bit lighter as he said, "you did try to run me over once."

Monty repressed a smile before it could escape him. Clay was right. He could understand that very well. He did a lot of stupid things when he was trying to protect Bryce. 

"Clay broke up with Ani," Justin added, as if expecting them to get some kind of consolation from that. He looked a bit relieved that this wasn't going badly. "She's almost completely alone now. Jessica's the only one that talks to her." 

"You realize that nothing is stopping us from going to the police and telling them everything you've just told us, right?" Winston asked them.

Clay and Justin looked at each other before Clay said, "Look, Winston, we love Alex, we really do, but we can't protect him anymore. He's not well, he needs help. He did kill Bryce, and that information is yours now. You get to decide what to do with it."

After that conversation with Justin and Clay, Winston thought long and hard about what to do. He felt too angry to pity Alex at the moment. His love for Monty was making it impossible for him to feel sympathy for the guy who murdered someone and tried to frame it on his boyfriend. And the way that Alex cornered Winston in the photography room the very next day didn't help matters at all.

Alex was visibly unstable, he felt his whole world was crumbling around him. He had had a horrible discussion with his father a week ago about the steroids that were in his room. His father kept asking him questions about Bryce, about that night. He had had to fake an anxiety attack to get out of that discussion.

In the photography room, Alex no longer bothered to pretend that he didn't know about Winston and Monty. Before Winston could ask what he wanted, he demanded, "How can you be with someone like Monty? A bully who has done nothing but cause pain to others?"

Winston stayed silent, and Alex couldn't hold his anger anymore. He started yelling, telling Winston everything Monty had ever done for Bryce: hiding the polaroids that incriminated him, keeping the clubhouse secret, destroying Tony's car, trying to run Clay over.

Winston slowly put down his headphones, trying to calm himself down before he started yelling, too. "And what about Monty’s pain? Did no one ever think to help him out whenever his father beat him up, or the times when he was so scared to go home that he slept under a bridge? You all knew what he was going through, but you didn't care. You just cornered him under that bridge last year, and put a gun to his head."

It was Alex's turn to be silent as he was taken aback by these accusations. He had never really dwelled on Monty's life outside of school. He had never seen him as anything other than a school bully. A monster who deserved the worst.

"I can't believe you have the nerve to criticize Monty's past, when you're keeping a secret a thousand times darker than anything he did," Winston said, angrily.

Alex's eyes widened at that. "What do you know?"

Winston ignored that question. "I love Monty, Alex. We are going to prom together."

Alex felt a sharp pain on the left side of his chest at that. "Did he tell you that? And you believed him? Winston, he'll never go public with you. He doesn't deserve you."

"And," Winston continued, raising his voice and talking over Alex, "we're going to college together. He got a football scholarship, because, unlike you, he has worked hard to be a better person. If it was up to me, Alex, you would be in prison. So, for your own good, just leave us alone."

And with that, Winston stormed out of the photography room, and Alex realized that there was no hope now. He had lost Winston forever.

He could feel himself beginning to lose control. The last thing he needed was to have a panic attack at that moment. He averted it by focusing hard on Winston's words. So, Monty had got a football scholarship somewhere, and Winston was going with him. 

Suddenly, he had an idea. He raced to his locker and found what he was looking for. A red pencil case; inside were two small bottles that had dark blue bottle caps. Testosterone Cypionate. _Let’s see what college will grant a scholarship to an athlete on steroids._

As Alex grabbed the red pencil case and made his way to the football locker rooms to search for Monty's gym bag, he was too absorbed in his own thoughts to notice that Diego had been a few feet away from him, leaning against his own locker, and his eyes had followed Alex's every move. 

A few minutes later, Coach Kerba heard a knock on his door. "Come in," he said as he locked his computer. He had been reading an email from the UM coach that had recruited Monty. The kid had accepted the offer. Normally, he would advise waiting a bit before giving a definite answer, but the University of Michigan was very prestigious, and he knew Monty would fit right in. Everyone in Ann Arbor loved football. Kerba smiled to himself as he thought of how proud of Monty he was.

The door to his office swung open. It was Alex Standall. "Sir, I think there's something you should know."

Coach Kerba's face crumbled as he heard what Alex had to say. Monty was doing steroids? After everything he had done for him, he was willing to ruin his future like that? He had wanted to believe that Monty could turn his life around. He was a talented player, he had a gift, but perhaps the bad influences around him were too strong. He thought sadly how Monty probably took steroids to perform better on workouts during his campus visit. He dismissed Standall from his office and texted Monty to meet him in the locker room.

"What's this about, coach?" Monty asked when they were both there.

"Get your gym bag. I want you to open it in front of me."

Monty frowned, confused, but he did as he was told. "What do you think I'm hiding here?"

After going through the contents three times and dumping everything on the floor to see more clearly what was inside, Coach Kerba was forced to admit that there was nothing there. 

"I.. someone told me you were doing steroids again."

"What? And you believed them? Coach, I would never do that, I would lose the scholarship!" Monty looked hurt.

Coach Kerba was speechless. He was embarrassed to have doubted Monty so easily. 

"I can't believe you thought that. If no one believes I can change, then maybe I can't," Monty said, lowering his head. His eyes rested on the contents of his gym bag that were now scattered on the floor—his worn out running shoes, his cheap athletic wear—and he felt inferior, inadequate. He knew the scholarship was too good for someone like him. Too good for him to deserve it. 

"Don't say that. This is on me. I should have trusted you. I'm your coach, and I should have trusted you. I'm sorry." Coach Kerba put a hand on Monty's shoulder, squeezing it reassuringly. "Listen to me, you are the smartest quarterback I've ever coached, and you are going to kick ass at UM. I’m proud of you."

He started helping Monty put his things inside the gym bag again, and after apologizing one more time, he tried to cheer Monty up by taking him to his office and reading him parts of the email he had received from the college recruiter. By the time Monty walked out of Coach Kerba's office, he had almost forgotten about the whole thing.

Diego was waiting for him outside the office, a smug smile on his face.

"What's with your face?" Monty asked him with a laugh. 

"I would be more respectful if I were you. I just saved your ass.”

Monty looked at him, questioningly. "Do you know why I was in there?"

"I do. The coach thought you were taking steroids, didn't he?" When Monty nodded, he said, "That crippled bastard. Alex. He put them in your gym bag and went to tell Coach Kerba you were using. It's a good thing I saw him acting strange and followed him. I took them out of your bag. I wasn't going to let them ruin your life again."

For the first time in his life, Monty thought how good it felt to have people who cared about you and looked out for you. Unbelievable as it was, that made all the difference.


	15. Prom Night

Prom loomed ever closer for the students at Liberty High. An important chapter of their lives was about to close, and the excitement and anticipation could be felt throughout the school. Many high school students looked forward to this night, but as excited as they were, prom night couldn't mean as much to them as it did to Montgomery de la Cruz.

A year ago, Monty would have never guessed that he would put that much thought into senior prom, but there he was, completely consumed by thoughts of how it would go, and what everyone would say when they saw him with Winston beside him, arriving with him as his date. It wasn't that he wasn't ready, he believed he was, but it was hard to shake a lifetime of being told that it was wrong, even shameful, to love someone of the same sex. He knew in his heart that his father wasn't right, that there was nothing wrong with letting the world know that he loved Winston, but there were times when his upbringing overpowered reason.

During those times, Estela was incredibly helpful. She pulled him out of the darkness and reminded him what was really important. She had a cheerful way of looking at things, a kind of free-spirited approach to life that was contagious. Even his mom, taking care that his father didn't hear her, gave him an occasional word of encouragement. 

But Monty's greatest source of comfort was Winston. He knew that Winston was looking forward to that night, and all he cared about was making Winston happy. He was going to try his hardest to give Winston the prom night he deserved.

Prom had temporarily distracted them both from the conversation they had had with Clay and Justin. Winston was still furious at Alex, but Monty was more focused on the new life he was trying to build for himself—going public with Winston and going to college—and didn't want anything to do with cops or drama that could interfere with that. 

Monty's excitement about the future made Winston happy, so he decided to push all thoughts about what Alex had done to the back of his mind, at least for the moment. Monty was taking him to prom as his date, it was something that Winston had been hoping for and looking forward to for a long time. He would not ruin it by thinking about Alex.

When the day finally came, Winston couldn't stop himself from texting Monty every few minutes.

Winston: "You're all set, right? You know what you're going to wear? You got your shoes, and everything?"

Monty read the latest text and rolled his eyes, but smiled all the same.

Monty: "For the third time, yes, I have everything. Estela helped me choose my clothes, though. If I end up looking ridiculous, she's the one to blame."

Estela had been peeping at his screen when he was typing that, and she scoffed when she read it. "You'll be thanking me later," she told Monty as she walked away to start getting ready.

Winston: "I know you're going to look so handsome! I can't wait!!!"

Winston: "❤"

Winston's texts kept coming throughout the day, and Monty's face was starting to hurt from smiling so much. It was adorable how excited Winston was, but it was also putting a lot of pressure on Monty. _I can't screw this up._

Monty's plan was to pick Winston up at his house at 8:00PM, and from there head off to prom together. As for the others, Diego was picking up Estela, and Luke was going alone. Charlie hadn't given up on Alex, and had been pleasantly surprised when Alex accepted to go to prom with him. Charlie was in a similar situation as Winston and Monty. None of his friends knew he was bisexual, except for Luke. His father knew about it, and had always been incredibly supportive. The support of his family and the way he had been raised made all the difference, and he wasn't as worried as Monty was about everyone finding out.

Alex accepted to go with Charlie half-heartedly, only because he needed a distraction. He knew there was no chance he would be able to go with Winston, and he spent a lot of time obsessively thinking about how they had gone together to the Valentine's dance; everything that went wrong that day and what he would do differently. His panic attacks and his hallucinations were now worse than ever, and instead of getting the help he needed, he continued to fixate on Winston, whom he believed to be what he needed to get better. 

Jessica had called him a thousand times that week. She was worried because the police wanted to talk to her. So worried in fact that she couldn't even think of going to prom. Alex felt like he couldn't deal with her right now. Making it through the day without having a mental breakdown was an accomplishment for him these days. He didn't want to talk about Bryce, not with Jessica and definitely not with this father either, who had taken to asking him questions about that night. He could sense that everything was on the verge of crumbling down on him, but his mind couldn't take anymore anxiety and stress, so he tried to ignore them both as much as he could.

At prom, however, Alex discovered that he was also running low on patience. Charlie wouldn't leave him alone. He kept asking Alex to dance with him, or offering to get him a soda, and it was all getting a bit annoying to Alex.

"Charlie, I told you already, I don't want to dance. I'll look like a fool up there."

They were sitting at one of the round tables that had been set up around the huge dance floor. Most of the tables were empty as almost everyone was dancing. Diego and Estela hit the dance floor as soon as they arrived, but Luke had come to sit next to Charlie. He was staring daggers at Alex at that very moment.

"Why come to the prom if you're not going to dance? I mean, what's the point? Did you come to be miserable and make other people miserable as well?" Luke asked Alex.

Charlie threw him a look that seemed to say, "Have a little patience with him."

But Luke was getting tired of watching Alex treat Charlie like crap. He thought of how sweet Charlie was, and how he deserved to be showered with love instead of ignored or pushed to the side. _Wait, showered with love?_

Before Luke could analyse his own thoughts too deeply, Diego and Estela came back from the dance floor, panting and already a bit sweaty. Estela took a look around, looking for someone.

Alex, not wanting to be near anyone related to Monty, stood up and left for the bathroom. Estela and Diego sat down as soon as he was gone. 

"My brother's not here yet?" Estela asked Luke. When he shook his head, she looked at her phone, "It's fifteen minutes till nine, where the hell is he?"

Estela couldn't deny to herself that there was the slight possibility that Monty had gotten cold feet. She had tried to be positive and had told him many times that he was ready, but what if he wasn't? If that was the case, then Winston was probably still at home, waiting for him; no doubt starting to believe that he had been stood up. The worst thing was that she couldn't ask anyone for help because no one knew about his brother and Winston, or so she thought.

Diego instantly noticed Estela's worried expression. "Hey, I'm sure he's fine. Maybe he's just running a little late. Or maybe his, you know, date is running a little late." He had a good guess as to whom Monty would bring as his date.

Estela narrowed her eyes suspiciously. She knew Diego like the palm of her hand, and right about now it sounded like he knew more than he was letting on. "What do you know?"

Diego gave her a smug smile. "About what?"

Diego hadn't planned on telling anyone that he knew about Monty until Monty was ready to tell him himself, but then Estela said...

"You don't know," in such a dismissive tone that he couldn't help himself.

"Yeah, you're right. I don't know anything about any secret relationship—"

"Shhh! Oh my God, you know! How do you know?" 

Diego explained, looking a bit more sheepish now and talking in Spanish so the others wouldn't understand, how he had overheard her conversation with Winston at the Find Your Drink party.

"Are you guys talking about Monty and Winston?" Charlie asked shyly. Spanish had always been his favorite class.

Estela gaped at him. "Does everyone know?"

"I've suspected it for some time," Charlie said.

"Suspected what?" Luke asked, completely lost.

"Well, since most of you already know, I don't feel that guilty to ask for your help. I think Monty might have gotten cold feet. I knew I shouldn't have left home before he did," Estela said, looking worried.

"Can someone explain to me what's going on?" Luke asked, trying but failing to follow the conversation.

"Luke, are you seriously telling me you can't put two and two together?" Diego said, and when Luke seemed to be thinking hard about it, Diego joked, "Stop if it starts to hurt." He reacted just in time to dodge a mini egg roll that Luke had thrown his way. Diego laughed and threw one right back at him before Estela put a stop to them.

"Could you please stop throwing appetizers at each other long enough to help me out here?" 

"Sorry," Luke and Diego said at the same time. "So, you're saying that Monty and Winston are, like, together?" Luke asked them.

They all looked at each other before Estela answered him. "Yes, they have been together for over a year now."

"WHAT?"

"I mean, I think they broke up at one point but that didn't last long," Estela continued.

"And you all knew about this?" Luke couldn't believe Monty had been able to hide something like that for so long, but as he looked over to Charlie, suddenly he felt like he understood. Maybe he had some feelings he was trying to hide himself.

While Luke worked on getting over his shock, Estela tried calling Monty multiple times without success. He wasn't picking up, and she didn't dare call Winston. She was holding on to the hope that they were on their way, but if that wasn't the case, she wouldn't know what to tell Winston if Monty had truly stood him up. She decided she had no choice but to call her mom and ask her if Monty was still at home. She tried not to sound too worried when her mom told her that Monty had left almost an hour ago. _If he left an hour ago, why aren't they here?_

Estela knew her brother, and she knew how much he wanted to be happy with Winston. Even if he had gotten cold feet, this was a temporary setback. She wasn't going to let Monty ruin his chance at happiness.

"Guys, we need to find Monty and make him understand once and for all that it's absolutely fine for him to be who he is. Our dad is an asshole that made him feel like shit for being gay. I know Monty loves Winston. His heart is in the right place, but he needs our help right now. Honestly, I'm kind of relieved you all know. Now I don't have to do this alone, and I think it will be better for Monty if the support comes from all of us instead of just me. I've told him many times that you would all support him, but I'm not sure he really believed me."

Diego shook his head sadly, "I wish I had said something to him, then. I just thought it would be better if it came from him. I was giving him some space until he was ready."

"I felt the same way. The signs were there, but I didn't know for sure, and I didn't want to assume anything," Charlie said.

"I think all he needs is to know that he's loved and that his friends have his back. But first we need to find him. He could be anywhere right now." As soon as Estela finished that sentence, she suddenly remembered how Winston had told her at the _Find Your Drink_ party how he had met Monty. It had been after a really ugly fight with their dad. Monty had tried to stick up for her and their father had gone crazy, and had even chased him with a hammer. He'd had to run away from home. By some lucky twist of fate, he had ended up meeting Winston that night, near the beach.

"I know where he is." Estela didn't actually know, it was more like a feeling. She could imagine her brother at that beach right now, afraid but trying to summon up the courage to live the life he wanted to live. "Let's go get him."

"All of us?" Charlie asked.

"Yeah, he needs his friends right now, Charlie," Estela said.

"Estela's right. Monty has always had our back when we needed him, guys. Let's all have his," Diego said as he stood up.

Luke stood up too, and so did Charlie, but then he remembered Alex. "Wait, what about Alex? I can't leave him here alone. He's going to be back any minute."

"He seems to be doing fine to me," Diego said, looking to his left. Alex was sitting a few tables down, talking to someone else and with no intention of going back to Charlie.

Luke put an arm around Charlie's shoulders, bringing him closer to him, "Come on, let's go help our friend."

Estela's intuition soon proved to be spot on. Monty was indeed where she said he would be, and he looked extremely taken aback at seeing them all there.

"What the f—What are you doing here? How did you find me?"

"I had a feeling you'd be here." Estela had planned to scream some sense into him once she saw him, but now her tone was soft. She could tell he had been crying. "Monty, what's wrong? Why haven't you picked Winston up?"

" _Estela,_ " Monty looked pointedly at the others and then at his sister, worried that the others would hear her and still unaware that they all knew about him and Winston.

Diego took a step towards the siblings. "Monty, it was stupid of me not to say this sooner, but I am so happy for you, man. We're all here for you," Diego said, looking back at the others for support. "This may sound cheesy but, please don't let fear take away your happiness."

Monty was suddenly reminded of Bryce's last words to him: _"You deserve to love fearlessly."_ At that time, Monty hadn't been ready to hear those words, and he had lashed out at Bryce, angry and ashamed that he knew his secret. Therefore, Monty was surprised at how much comfort Diego's words brought him now. It was a testament of how much he had grown as a person since then, proof that he had truly gotten better.

Monty looked at his friends as the salty wind ruffled their hair and billowed through the fabric of their fancy prom clothes. Estela was struggling to keep her dress from lifting up, and Charlie had gotten sand in his shiny black shoes. But they were all there, worried about him and trying to help him find the courage he needed to finally allow himself to be happy. He could see the answer in their eyes before he asked them, "So, you all know?"

"Well, yeah," Diego said, grinning, "I'm not saying it was obvious but you guys were not exactly the Kings of Subtlety, you know. There were signs."

Monty chuckled at that despite himself. They all knew about him and Winston and they weren't rejecting him, they weren't making fun of him or telling him he wasn't normal. Instead, they were supporting him. He was surprised to find that his eyes were starting to cloud with tears again, and he turned his back to them so they wouldn't see him as he wiped them.

"If it's any consolation, Luke was completely clueless, so at least you managed to fool him," Charlie said, trying to imitate Diego's attempt to lighten the mood.

"Hey!" Luke protested, surprised at this sudden attack from Charlie. Charlie gave him an adorable smile that made Luke want to kiss him again, then he immediately blushed at his sudden impulse. 

"Monty, I owe you an apology," Charlie said, looking serious again and stepping towards Monty, "A long-overdue apology. I just... I was afraid you wouldn't understand. I shouldn't have betrayed you like that, I should've had your back like I said I would. But I did it out of love for someone... or so I thought at the time. I wanted to be there for Alex, when I should have been there for you."

Diego and Estela both looked at Charlie questioningly, and Monty arched an eyebrow, "You and Alex?" 

"Ha, who's clueless, now?" Luke said, while Charlie nodded. 

"I'm bisexual, and I've been attracted to Alex for a while now. My family knows, and I told Luke at the _Find Your Drink_ party, but I guess I was waiting for the right time to tell everyone else," Charlie continued.

Monty was looking at Charlie as if he was seeing him for the first time. He couldn't believe he had struggled with his sexuality for so long while one of his closest friends was going through the same thing. They wasted so much time distancing themselves from one another, when they could have been supporting each other. 

"We were brothers, and I'm sorry I ruined our friendship," Charlie said to Monty.

Monty surprised Charlie by stepping towards him and giving him a hug. "We're still brothers," Monty said to him.

They heard Luke saying, "Awww, you guys," and then suddenly found themselves trapped in a triple hug as Luke wrapped his arms around them both.

"Luke, stop before Diego gets any ideas," Monty said, his voice muffled by having one of Luke's shoulders pressed to his face.

"Yeah, I'm starting to feel left out, I wanna get in there," Diego joked.

"Alright, guys, this is cute and all, but Winston has been waiting for over an hour now," Estela said.

"Shit," Monty said, untangling himself from Luke and Charlie and checking his phone. He saw all the missed calls from Estela, and a few from Winston. He had last called Monty half an hour ago. There were also a couple of texts, the last one read: "It's fine. I understand."

"I'm the worst. I swear I was on my way to his house but halfway there I started thinking about everything that could go wrong. I know how much Winston had been looking forward to this, but I was afraid you guys wouldn't understand. I just kept hearing dad's voice in my head, telling me this wasn't normal and then I was sure everyone would look at us like we were freaks. I couldn't stop picturing Winston's face if that happened. Before I knew it, I was here."

"Come on, it's still early. Let's go pick him up and then we'll head off to prom together," Estela said. "Winston promised me a dance and I'm going to hold him to it."

Diego and the others followed Monty as they all made their way to Winston's house. Monty sent Winston a quick text: "I'm sorry. I'm on my way." 

Relief was the first thing Winston felt when he read that text. Monty had told him he would pick him up at around eight. It was not like he expected him at eight sharp, but after waiting for an hour he was forced to conclude that something must have happened, especially when Monty didn't answer his calls. He would be lying to himself if he said he hadn't thought about the possibility that Monty would change his mind about taking him to prom. It was a big deal, especially for him, to have his sexuality so dramatically revealed in a high school prom in front of everyone. 

But he had let himself hope against his own judgement, and he had gotten excited about tonight, which probably had put even more pressure on Monty. He just wished Monty had answered his phone so he could tell him it was okay if he didn't feel up to it. They would soon be leaving that school anyway. But when he saw Monty's car stopping in front of his house, he couldn't prevent his face from breaking into a huge smile. They were really going to prom.

"Finally. I thought you were going to stand me up," Winston teased him when Monty got out of the car to greet him.

After kissing him on the lips, Monty took Winston's right hand and, interlacing their fingers, brought it up to his face to kiss it. "I'm sorry."

"It's fine." A nearby car caught Winston's attention and he realized it was Diego, parked a couple of houses down, with Estela next to him and Charlie and Luke in the back seat.

Monty noticed Winston looking at them. "I needed a bit of emotional support earlier," he admitted, a little embarrassed. 

Winston smiled at him. "You mean they know about us?"

Monty nodded. "I was so worried about them finding out, and they have all known for a while, apparently. Well, all except Luke, he found out today."

"Hey," Winston said, "it would have been fine if you didn't want to go today. I know I went a little crazy with the texts earlier, but you don't have to do this for me. And you don't owe anyone anything."

"I want to do this. I want to have this night with you. I've let my dad make my life miserable for too long, and that ends tonight."

Feeling reassured that Monty really wanted to do this, Winston got in Monty's car and they headed off to prom with Diego and the others following close behind. 

When they arrived, Monty opened the door for Winston. For a moment, the sight took Winston's breath away. He hadn't expected it to be that beautiful. The venue looked grand and spacious. The decoration had a warm and regal feeling to it, as if you were walking right into a different, classier era. The lights illuminating the dance floor made everyone below look like they belonged in a fairytale. 

Monty looked right at home in the tuxedo Estela had picked for him. Winston couldn't stop looking at him, not quite believing his luck at having such a handsome boyfriend, and unaware that Monty was feeling exactly the same about him. 

They had both entered through the doors holding hands. Estela noticed some people staring; Clay and Justin, sitting at a nearby table, both stared with surprised expressions before looking at each other and shrugging. "People can surprise you," she heard Clay say. Alex was sitting at the same table where he had been when they left, next to a bored-looking Ani. The murderous look that appeared on his face as soon as he saw Monty and Winston made him look so ridiculous that Estela snorted. Monty and Winston, however, only had eyes for each other.

A slow, beautiful song started playing, and couples were making their way to the dance floor.

"Want to dance?" Winston asked Monty, and soon they were making their way to the dance floor as well.

_♪ I got the good side of you  
Sent it out into the blue ♪ _

"Now that we're here, I can't believe how there were times when I thought that I'd never be able to do this, dance with you," Monty said, his right hand on Winston's waist as they swayed to the music.

"I always knew you could. I love you."

Monty smiled. He led a surprised Winston into a twirl before drawing him in and putting his arms around Winston's waist again. Winston's arms were resting on Monty's shoulders and their foreheads were touching when Monty said, "I love you, too," before kissing Winston on the lips. "And I'm sorry for everything I put you through. You deserve better, and I'll never stop trying to make it up to you."

Winston looked into Monty's eyes, and found nothing but regret and honesty there. "I knew what I was getting into from the moment I met you," Winston smiled when he remembered how hostile Monty had been that day, how starved for love, "I knew it would take time, but I was willing to be there for you, every step of the way, until you were ready."

_♪ I'm sure we'll meet in the spring  
And catch up on everything ♪_

"This song is beautiful, but it's so sad," Winston said, "I want to dance to something fun with you, to properly say goodbye to high school for good."

Winston's wish came true as soon as the next song started playing. When the high-energy, retro beat of _Blinding Lights_ came on, both of their faces broke into a smile, and they were soon joined by Estela and Diego, who had been waiting for a song like that to dance wildly to. 

Luke looked at the four of them having a blast, and laughed at Diego's ridiculous dance moves. Before he joined them, he looked around for Charlie, and frowned when he saw him talking to Alex. 

Seeing Monty and Winston together in public had infuriated Alex to no end. He thought that someone like Monty didn't deserve to be that happy, that he deserved the same fate as Bryce.

Another thing started to bother Alex whenever his survival instinct kicked in and overpowered his depression: Winston knew he killed Bryce. He had heavily implied it in their last conversation, and therefore, Alex thought it was safe to assume that if Winston knew, then so did Monty. That thought made Alex desperate and anxious enough to, in a moment of clarity, beg Charlie to be his alibi. He could always count on Charlie to be gullible and easy to manipulate, and this was exactly what he needed to placate his suspecting dad and keep the police from looking too deeply into him. Few people knew this, but his dad had told him that the police was very close to getting a warrant issued to search Jessica's house, and even though she hadn't said anything about him yet, he wouldn't blame her if she did soon.

"Come on, Charlie. You can say I was at your house, too, right? We can say that we hooked up that night, after everyone went to sleep, and that was why we were too embarrassed to say anything before."

Charlie shook his head. "My dad knows me too well. He knows I wouldn't have been embarrassed by you. And why do you need an alibi, anyway?" He said, frowning slightly.

Alex felt a flash of anger course through him. "Can't you be useful, for once?" Alex snarled before he could control himself. The fact that nothing went right for him was getting to him, and he found it increasingly difficult to keep his emotions under control. It was that same attitude that had alienated him from his friends.

Luke had decided to go ask Charlie if he wanted to dance, and he was within earshot when Alex said that. "What the fuck?" He said to Alex as he pushed him away from Charlie. "Never talk to him like that, do you hear me?" 

"Luke, please, don't," Charlie said. He didn't want Luke to be thrown out of the venue.

"What else can you expect from an asshole like him?" Alex said, "He's just like his friends. Football players have shit for brains and the only thing they know is how to be bullies."

Hearing Alex insulting Luke made Charlie incredibly angry. 

“Are you forgetting I'm a football player, too?" Charlie said. "And they have been extremely good friends to me,” he raised his eyes to Luke, “even when I didn’t deserve it. You, on the other hand,” he looked at Alex again, “have tried to use me more times than I can count. We're done Alex. I don't want anything to do with you."

Charlie and Luke both walked away—Luke looking extremely proud of Charlie—leaving a stunned Alex behind. Luke mockingly offered his hand to Charlie, and when he took it, Luke led him to the dance floor to join their friends as they jumped and danced to the magical, nostalgic beat of one the best party songs of the year.

When the song was over, Diego took the stage saying he had an announcement to make. Diego knew that announcing the Prom King and Queen usually fell under the responsibility of the Student Body President, but Jessica wasn't at prom. She hadn’t even bothered to organize the voting, so he took it upon himself to do that tonight with an impromptu online poll. The poll was now closed and it was time to announce the couple that had been elected as prom royalty, and he had a feeling he knew which couple that would be. After all, it was always whomever the football team voted for.

"Alright, everyone, it's time to crown our royalty. And I gotta say, I think I'm going to like this year's choice," Diego said as he pulled out his phone. "The Prom King and... _King_ are... Montgomery de la Cruz and Winston Williams!"

Estela's cry of approval was drowned by all the noise the football team was making as well as by the general applause and cheers from the crowd. It looked like the football team had been unanimous in their vote.

"If only they had done the same thing when it was time to vote for team captain," Monty said as he hid his face behind his hands. 

Winston laughed. "Come on, I promise I won't make you wear the tiara."

When Winston and Monty finished their first dance as Prom Kings, Diego and Estela joined them in a flash, but when they all looked to their table for Luke and Charlie, they were astonished to find them kissing. Luke had Charlie’s face in his hands, and Charlie’s hands were on Luke’s thighs.

"Woah, we may have chosen our Prom Kings too soon!" Diego said, laughing.

"No way, you're not taking this tiara away from me now," Winston joked.

Monty stared at Luke and Charlie, completely flabbergasted. He couldn't help thinking how much time he had wasted needlessly worrying about what people thought of him and hiding who he truly was. He looked at Winston's face, a little flushed from all the dancing, not believing his luck at having found someone as beautiful and as good as him, someone who had stayed with him through thick and thin, someone who was perfect for him in every single way.


	16. Graduation

Warm rays of sunlight streamed through the half-open curtains and reached Monty's face as he slept. The light made the freckles scattered across his cheeks and nose a little more noticeable, and Winston was incapable of taking his eyes away from him to go get breakfast. He was still thinking about how incredible the night before had been.

They had gone straight to Winston's house after prom, and had teared off each other's clothes as soon as they got to Winston's room. They'd had sex two times and wanted to go for a third before they fell asleep holding one another, exhausted from a night of dancing and then sex. 

Monty slowly opened his eyes and found Winston staring at him.

"Jesus, how long have you been staring at me?" Monty said, in a sleepy but amused voice.

"Good morning. Are you hungry?" Winston asked, ready to finally get out of bed and get breakfast for the both of them.

Monty looked at Winston's face before running his eyes over his naked torso and stopping at the groin area that was unfortunately covered by the sheets. He started to feel himself getting hard. "Yeah, I'm hungry," he said, before yanking Winston toward him until Winston was in a straddling position.

Winston lowered his face to kiss Monty on the lips, and he felt Monty's hands grabbing his hair possessively. Monty was once again inclined to control the situation, but Winston was in the mood to challenge him, and he thought it would be fun to refuse him control for as long as he could. 

Refusing to change positions, Winston grabbed the lube from the nightstand and quickly rubbed some on Monty before putting his hands on Monty's shoulders and lowering himself down on him. They both groaned as sharp pleasure coursed through their bodies. 

Then Winston started to move, alternating slow, shallow strokes with deep thrusts. Monty's hands were clasped on Winston's hips, trying and failing to control the depth and the speed at which Winston was riding him.

Winston decided to go faster, and he was rewarded when Monty moaned his approval. Just when Monty seemed like he was about to come, Winston stopped moving all together, and made the mistake of looking down at Monty with a smug, mischievous smile.

Winston's smile faltered when Monty responded with one of his own. "Oh, you're going to regret that," Monty said, hoarsely. Before Winston could stop him, Monty had reversed their positions, forcefully pinning down Winston on the bed. Winston got a taste of his own medicine as Monty repeatedly drove him to the edge before pulling back at the last moment, keeping Winston on the verge of orgasm but never allowing him to come. It was incredibly frustrating but strangely enjoyable at the same time, and Winston knew that whenever he did come, every cell in his body was going to feel it. 

After Monty pinned him down, Winston had been biting his lower lip to keep himself from moaning. He hadn't wanted to give Monty that satisfaction right away, but at some point he let himself go. Winston's moans were driving Monty crazy and he lost control, coming violently inside of Winston. The feeling of Monty's ejaculation made Winston finish as well. 

Monty collapsed on his back next to Winston, completely satisfied. Winston turned himself to lie on his back as well, smiling widely, "That felt so damn good."

"Fuck yes," Monty said, closing his eyes.

Winston was suddenly reminded of their first time, how he had gently guided a hesitant-looking Monty as he pressed himself inside of Winston. They had been strangers to each other then. It was insane to think how time could make a person so dear to you, so indispensable.

So much had changed since they first met. Monty wasn't the same insecure boy, trying to be someone he was not, hiding himself even from his true friends and preventing them from helping him when he needed it the most. Now, a year after meeting Winston, Monty had turned into a more confident young man who loved and was loved by someone, and who was closer than ever to his friends.

Monty's relationship with his family had also changed. The support of his sister and mother meant a lot to him and had helped them bond in a way they hadn't before. Even the violent home-life he had been so used to endure had gotten better. Ever since the accident, Mr de la Cruz's hot temper had seemed to mellow somewhat, and he didn't have the taste for alcohol he once had. 

"I'm so glad I met you," Winston said, "it's the best thing that has ever happened to me."

Monty turned his head to look at Winston. "What are you talking about? It's me who should be grateful. There's nothing in my life that you didn't make better."

Winston smiled, touched. A second later, the moment was ruined when his stomach growled loudly, making Monty laugh hard.

"Let's go get breakfast," Monty said, getting up.

They enjoyed the few days they had left as high school students as much as they could by going on dates and spending a lot of time together. College was unknown territory and it was a bit stressful to think about. Every big change was hard, but at least they would be together in that new stage of their lives.

Graduation day came soon enough, and there were students at Liberty who were not really excited about the prospect of going to the ceremony. Jessica Davis, for example, had bigger things to worry about, as the police had suddenly showed up at her house with a search warrant a few days before graduation. She hadn't been arrested yet, but she had become the number one suspect in the case of Bryce Walker.

Alex Standall wasn't so keen on going to his graduation either. His father, however, insisted that he should go. The police had no evidence against him yet, but it was critical that he acted normal, especially during this time. Officer Standall now had no doubt that his son had been involved in the murder of Bryce, but his brain still seemed incapable of fully processing the fact that his son had done such a terrible thing. 

They were sitting in his car in the school's parking lot under the bright, unforgivable light of the late morning sun. Alex had agreed to go to the graduation ceremony, but they had left late and had already missed most of it. Alex had insisted on wanting to drive, and at the moment, Officer Standall was trying to persuade him to turn off the car and go join the other students. 

"Come on, buddy. We're already here. We might as well catch the end. There's still time to see you throw your hat in the air."

Alex scoffed. He couldn't believe he had let his father talk him into coming. What was the point? What was there to celebrate? How his life had gone to hell because of two of the biggest jerks Liberty High had ever seen? Bryce Walker and Montgomery de la Cruz. They were both the same. Alex knew that people like them weren't capable of change. Even if Monty had managed to fool Winston and everyone else, he was still the same bully he had always been. Alex thought he should have put a bullet through Monty's skull last year, when he had the chance.

Just when Alex had resigned himself to get out and was about to turn off the car, they saw Monty walking through the maze of cars in the parking lot, looking for his own, which coincidentally was right in front of them. Monty, though, seemed too lost in his own thoughts to notice them. He was now pulling something out from the back of his car.

Alex didn't turn off the car. Instead he stared at Monty, and the strong surge of envy that went through him almost made him sob. It was so unfair how the bullies had won. Bryce was now a victim that would most likely get him and Jessica thrown in jail, and Monty had Winston, Monty was happy.

"I don't get why you're surprised, Alex. You know people like you never win."

Suddenly, his father wasn't sitting next to him anymore. Instead, a handsome looking Bryce sat in the passenger's seat, a taunting smile on his face, his eyes bright and matching the color of his graduation gown.

Alex closed his eyes. _This is not real. He's not here._

"I know what you're thinking, Alex. And I have to say, I'm shocked. I truly am," Bryce said, with a haunting echo in his voice.

"Shut up, you don't know anything."

"I know you're thinking about smashing this car against Monty's, crushing Monty in the process between the two cars. It's so gruesome, Alex, even for a murderer like you."

"Shut up."

"I mean, yeah, he could die. _Or_ he could survive, and end up paralyzed from the waist down. A terrible fate for a promising quarterback like him. He would never play football again. Maybe he wouldn't even go to college," Bryce's voice was making Alex's hair stand on end. 

"He deserves worse than that," Alex snarled.

"Oh, I know you believe that. There's something wrong with you, Alex. I know it because you know it. I have heard you ask yourself countless times if Zach would have killed me if your roles had been reversed. Would Clay have done the same? Or Justin? Or even Jessica, if she had been alone? The answer is no. None of them would have pushed me to my death, but you did, you killed me. And you want to kill Monty just as bad. You realized it when you pointed a gun at him last year. At that time, the realization shocked you, and you lowered the gun. But you're not going to make the same mistake now, I can see it. Tsk, tsk, so much hate for such a small body," Bryce said mockingly.

The mocking tone made Alex lose his temper. "So what? You're both scum!" Alex screamed, before putting his foot down hard on the accelerator.

Officer Standall managed to steer the wheel away at the last minute, shocked at what his son had been about to do. His father's hands on the wheel snapped him out of the hallucination and Alex stepped hard on the brakes. 

"What the fuck, Alex?!" His father barked at him.

"WHAT THE HELL?!" They heard Monty yell.

Alex was beginning to hyperventilate, and Officer Standall tried to calm down his own temper so the situation wouldn't escalate. He got out of the car and apologized to Monty, who walked away holding a small gift in his hands but looking like he still had half a mind to come back and yell at Alex some more.

Officer Standall was still shocked by what had just happened, but even in his shock he knew this was it. He could no longer keep protecting his son. Alex needed help beyond what he could give him. 

Alex's breathing was starting to calm down, and Officer Standall looked at his son, wondering what had happened, where they had gone wrong. But he knew what he had to do.

"I think we better go home, Alex. And I think you better let me drive."

Alex didn't refuse.

Back at the ceremony, Clay Jensen was giving his graduation speech standing over a sea of students in royal blue gowns. The ceremony was being held on the football field, and the families and friends of those graduating were sitting on the bleachers behind them. Looking back in his seat, Monty saw Estela sitting next to their mother and father. Winston looked back at them too, and Estela waved cheerfully at them. Mr de la Cruz had a sour look on his face at seeing Monty next to Winston, but he had so far refrained from making any type of scene.

"It comes down to one question. Will you survive high school?" Clay was saying to the crowd, "Hate is easy. Love and understanding are harder. But they are how we take care of each other, how we survive. High school can hurt. It can be painful. But every parent that's sitting behind you now is living proof that it's possible, that we can survive and make something of ourselves. Life can throw a lot of things our way, and suffering has the potential to turn each and everyone of us into monsters. We're all human, we all need love, and we all each other. I guess what I'm trying to say is, no matter what you're going through, no matter how much you feel life sucks right now, you have to keep moving. Get through it. Choose to live. 'Cause even on the worst day, there are people who love you. Even on the worst day, life is a pretty spectacular thing."

Monty looked at Winston, smiling at how much those words resonated with him. For the past year, even on his worst, most miserable days, he still had Winston. His life had gotten better from the moment he had dared to challenge everything he had ever been taught by his dad, from the moment he started to listen to his own heart. Now he not only had someone who loved him, but he knew his friends better than ever, and they supported and took care of each other in a way that they had never done so before. He was living proof that everyone deserves a second chance, and that having people around that care about you makes all the difference.

Monty, Winston, Diego and Luke graduated Liberty High, throwing their hats high in the air as Estela and Charlie watched them and cheered for them from the bleachers. At some point during the ceremony, Monty had left Winston's side to go get something from his car. He had come back looking a little bad tempered, but when Winston asked him about the gift he was holding in his hands, Monty had only smiled and said, "I'll give it to you after. It's nothing fancy. It's actually kind of stupid." And he refused to say anything else until the ceremony had finished.

Now that it was over, he was presenting the gift to Winston, looking a bit embarrassed. Taking it in his hands and without removing the wrapping paper, Winston could feel what seemed to be a 6x6 picture frame. Tearing away the paper, Winston saw that it wasn't a picture but a print of a star map. An inscription below told him that it was the night's sky as it had been when they first danced together. Taking a closer look at the constellations, Winston could see the lyrics to the song _The Good Side_ cleverly written around them. 

"When I was at that beach, stupidly wasting time being afraid and thinking of everything that could go wrong if I picked you up and went to prom, I still couldn't help noticing how pretty the stars looked. It made me wish you were there with me, and for a moment I toyed with the idea of just blowing off prom completely and spending the night with you there at the beach."

"I would have been up for that," Winston said, "I can't tell you how much I love this. Thank you," he added as he hugged the gift to his chest.

"I know you said it was a sad song," Monty said, referring to the lyrics in the star map, "And you're right, it's kind of a goodbye song, but it's the first song we danced to."

"It's a beautiful song. And it's fitting, too. I _do_ have the good side of you, only I'm not saying goodbye to it anytime soon," Winston said, smiling, before kissing Monty quickly on the lips. "I also have something for you."

Monty hadn't been expecting that. "You didn't have to do that. You've done too much for me, already."

But what Winston was going to give him seemed to be very small. All he had to do was reach into his pocket. He pulled out a plain, small dark blue box and offered it to Monty. 

Monty took it, taking off the tiny lid and finding a key inside. He looked at it for a moment in confusion until Winston said, "That's one of the keys to our new apartment in Ann Arbor. I have the other one," he said, pulling out from another pocket an identical silver key already attached to a keychain.

" _Our_ new apartment?"

"Yep."

Monty gaped at him. "I got you _this_ crap and you got me an _apartment_!" 

Winston flashed him one of his brightest smiles, raising his eyebrows and saying excitedly, "We're going to live together."

Monty's whole face brightened as well, "I can't believe you!"

As Winston threw his arms around Monty, hugging him tightly, Diego and Estela came over to invite them to a party Diego was having for the seniors later that day. "See you two later!" Diego yelled as he was off to invite more people. Charlie, on the other hand, had come down from the bleachers and was hugging Luke, making him promise he would come see him every weekend when he went to college. 

No matter where Monty looked, he was reminded of how good life was, and how every effort he had made to be a better person had been completely worth it. 

A week later, Monty and Winston were busy packing their things. Estela had had the brilliant idea of going on a big road trip along the California Coast before everyone went away to college. After inviting Diego, Luke, and Charlie, they had all agreed to rent a camper van and were extremely excited to hit the road. 

After loading his and Winston's bags in the van, Monty put an arm around Winston's shoulders and pulled him close. He gave Winston a kiss on the forehead before they got inside. They sat together in the back seat, and they had room enough so one of them could lie down and put his head on the other's lap. They would all take turns driving the van, but Diego had volunteered to be the first driver.

"Alright, everybody good?" Diego called back. "West Coast, here we go."

As they drove out and away from Evergreen, police sirens were heard in the distance. Officer Standall had called them himself, and they were headed to the Standall household.

The End.


End file.
